All The Right Notes
by PavLuvsPercyJackson
Summary: Annabeth is hired by Sally Jackson to look after her young kids while she works, but what will happen when she meets Sally's oldest son, musician and all-round hottie, Percy J. WARNING: PERCABETH! And definitely other pairings too, I may even allow some Thalico.
1. Chapter 1

**Hey guys!**

**Now I know I have too many stories that I'm not updating, and I am getting to them, but I need some Percabeth URGENTLY! And I really want to write one of these types ;P**

**Hope you enjoy!**

* * *

"I can't believe you're a nanny," My best friend Thalia snickered over the phone.

I rolled my eyes. "I'm not a nanny, Thals, I'm just babysitting for this lady, okay."

"Sounds like being a nanny to me."

"Thalia! For gods sake!"

"Whatever, fine. Does this lady have any cute sons?"

I laughed. "Oh, I don't know, maybe I'll ask her. You know, like, 'hey, are your sons hot by any chance?"

Thalia laughed. "Ok babe, I gotta go. Talk later."

"Bye."

I hung up as I approached Ms Jackson's apartment. According to the card she gave me, she was on the top floor of this four story building.

_How did I end up babysitting a stranger's kids? _I wondered. I was a junior at Goode in Manhattan, looking desperately for a job because I _really _wanted a car. Then, I saved this kid from getting run over by a bike at the park and his mother was so grateful.

Ms Jackson, from what I could tell, was a beautiful, kind person. She'd given me her business card for this lolly shop, along with a bag of blue candy.

"It can't be that bad," I mumbled to myself. "Ms Jackson's nice and her kids aren't too bad and she's only asking to babysit when I can make it. And she paying me decent enough money for my first job."

Taking a deep breath, I walked into the building and climbed the stairs to the top floor.

Using my phone reflection to make sure I looked okay, I knocked on the door.

A moment later, Ms Jackson's smiling face greeted me. Her blue eyes shone, surrounded by smile-lines, her dark curly hair was pinned up in a bun and she was wearing her candy shop uniform. "Annabeth! So glad you could make it!"

She wrapped me in a warm embrace, making me start, but I found myself hugging her back.

"Thank you for giving me the job, Ms Jackson."

She smiled even wider. "Oh, please, call me Sally. Now come on, you have to meet the kids!"

I followed her into the small hallway. The apartment was cosy, well decorated and clean, save for a space in the living room where toys littered the floor.

Two young children were playing with the toys on the floor, a boy of about nine driving miniature cars across the carpet, and a girl who looked to be seven galloping with a toy horse.

"Kids," Sally said, and the two immediately looked up. "This is your new babysitter, Annabeth. Say hello."

The kids chorused a cheerful 'Hi Annabeth' and went back to their game.

"Uh, that's Tyler and Sienna." Sally pointed out, and led me into the kitchen where she showed me where food was in case they got hungry.

She showed me the bathroom, and the kids bedrooms. She told me where the first aid was, and gave me her work number in case she couldn't answer for cell.

"Ok, so really, those two should be just fine playing around, but you'd best watch out for Percy," Sally continued leading me to a closed door across from Tyler and Sienna's room. There was a faint sound of an electric guitar coming through the wall, like that person inside was trying to be discreet about his play. She knocked on the door.

"Yah Mom?" A voice called and a boy answered the door.

I tried to keep my jaw off the floor. In the doorway was the cutest boy I had ever seen! He was maybe a year older than me, tall-much taller than me and his mother- but lean and muscular. His raven hair was messy and wild, hanging slightly into the most beautiful sea-green eyes.

"Percy, this is Annabeth, the new babysitter. You can help her out if she needs it, right?" Sally prompted.

Percy grinned. "Of course. Nice to meet you Annabeth."

"Uh... you too." I stuttered like an idiot.

"Alrighty then," Sally smiled again. "I have got to get to work, I'll be back around five-ish. You two will be alright until then?"

Percy and I nodded simultaneously. Then, with one last smile at me and a goodbye to Sally, Percy went back into his room, but I noticed he left the door open a little bit.

Sally and I walked back to the living room. "Now, I know Percy's almost eighteen, but I can't trust him to do his hair let alone look after the kids."

I laughed. "It'll be fine, I'll keep 'em out of trouble."

Sally nodded. "I know you will. I'll see you later."

"Bye Mommy!" Sienna called as Sally walked out the door.

Tyler wondered up to me, staring up at me with his blue eyes. "You're pretty."

"Thank you?" I replied, not sure how to respond to being hit on by a nine year old.

"Dude," A new voice said, and I turned to see Percy leaning against the wall, a smirk on his gorgeous face. "Don't flirt with your babysitter."

Tyler giggled and ran back to his toys.

I walked over to where Percy was standing and sat down at the seats on the other side of the bench. Percy opened the fridge and pulled out a carton of orange juice.

"OJ?" He asked, getting out two glasses.

"Uh, yes please," I answered, even though he'd already gotten me a glass anyway.

With his glass of juice, he sat next to me, handing me the second cup.

"So," He took a giant gulp. "You're the unfortunate soul who has to deal with my siblings."

I smiled. "They can't be that bad. They look adorable."

We both turned to look at the kids playing with their toys.

"Yeah, but give the tiniest bit of sugar and they'll be bouncing off the walls."

I laughed a little bit, which made him laugh too.

* * *

"Oh my GOD, Thalia!" I said to her image on Skype. "He's a total hottie!"

Thalia cooed. "Annie has a crush!"

"Don't call me Annie!" I yelled at her for the millionth time.

Thalia just brushed me off. "Whatevs, tell me about him."

Thalia may not seem like it, with her dark spiky hair, dark clothes and eye makeup, but she loves to gossip. Not as much as my other friends, Piper and her sister Silena, but you know.

"Well, we only talked for a little bit, then he went back to his, but he plays guitar. And he's funny, and charming."

"Do you know what school he goes to?"

"No, I couldn't just ask him." I sighed. "Well, I guess I'll see you at school tomorrow."

Thalia grumbled. "I hate Mondays."

"Poor Thalia," I said with fake sympathy, to which she stuck out her tongue. Being the mature person I am, I did the same thing in return.

"See ya Annie."

"DON'T CALL ME THAT!" But Thalia had already ended the call.

* * *

**Ta DA! First chappie! **

**Now I know they're a bit OOC, I'll try to keep them truer to their personality in the next chapter, and I will try to update this as well and A Pirates Life For Me and Cast Away as soon as I can. **

**But, as you all know, BOO came out last week, and I am still suffering horribly from the feels! **

**Please R&amp;R**

**BYE! :P**


	2. Chapter 2

**Hey guys! **

**Thanks for your reviews! **

**To 314-Grace, I totally agree, I dislike Thalico as a couple, but because I love you guys, I decided to give it a shot. Maybe we could have a bit Thaluke too :D**

**Hope you enjoy!**

* * *

Thalia, Piper, Hazel, Reyna and I stood around Piper's locker.

It was early, most kids weren't at school yet, which is why we were. We like to be able to talk when there's no one else around, and now there's no rush.

"So, Annabeth has a new man, huh?" Piper said, elbowing me slightly in the ribs.

I pushed her back. "Guys, I never even said I liked the guy, I just said he was hot. Besides, even if I _did _like him, he's totally out of my league."

"What do you mean?" Reyna asked, leaning against the locker.

"Well," I shrugged. "He's probably super popular with all these girls following him around. And he's a senior."

"Reyna and I are seniors," Thalia pointed out.

"Yeah, but we've known you guys forever," Hazel interjected. "Its different."

By now, some students were starting to file into the school.

"That's too bad, Annabeth," Reyna said, grabbing Thalia by the arm. "C'mon, we have to get to class. You know what Mrs Dodds is like."

We all shivered.

As Thalia and Reyna departed, Piper put a hand on my shoulder. "I totally think you should go for it! Plays guitar, tall, dark-haired, sounds like the _perfect _guy."

"I agree," Hazel beamed.

I scoffed. "You guys are so full of it. Lets get to class."

Hazel parted ways with us and went to her English class, but Piper and I had Latin with my favourite teacher Mr Brunner.

* * *

After school, Reyna drove me to the Upper East Side in her Suzuki.

She dropped me off at the Jackson's apartment, and I went up to the fourth floor.

When I got there, it was Sienna who opened the door. Sally was already at work. "Hello Annabeth!"

"Hey, Sienna," I replied, following the girl into the living room.

"Where's Tyler?"

Sienna shrugged. "In our room."

And Percy was in his room too, I'll bet. With Sally gone, I could hear his guitar belting out chords full volume. He was really good. I vaguely recognised the tune of Smells Like Teen Spirit by Nirvana. And if I wasn't mistaken, I could swear Percy was singing too.

"You hungry?" I asked Sienna as she jumped onto the couch.

The little girl shook her head, her dark curly hair bouncing around her shoulders. "Will you play dolls with me?"

I swallowed. "Uh...um, sure."

I hadn't played with dolls since I was eight! But the bright smile on Sienna's face almost made me forget about it.

She grabbed my hand and started dragging me to her bedroom. The bedroom floor was so littered with toys I stood on several pieces of Lego.

Biting on my tongue to keep from swearing in front of two little kids, I hopped on one foot. "Ow!"

"Sowry Annabeth." Tyler apologized.

"S'okay, Ty," I said through gritted teeth.

Sienna and I sat and played with her Barbies and her horses, and the new Lego Friends thingies. We played for hours, but Sienna didn't tire of our game, which was going nowhere.

Finally, like a gift from heaven, Tyler said, "Annabeth, I'm hungry!"

Suppressing my sigh of relief, I stood up and the kids bolted for the kitchen. They sat at the same seats Percy and I had yesterday, and waited eagerly for their food.

"So, uh, what do you guys want?"

"ICE CREAM!"

I frowned. "I don't think you can have ice cream until after dinner."

"AW! Please?" They tried the puppy-dog-eyes, but-thanks to my younger brothers, Bobby and Matthew- I was highly immune.

"No, what about some cookies?"

They nodded, so I got them a cookie and excused myself.

Heading to the bathroom, I splashed some water onto my face and rubbed my eyes. Looking into the mirror, my grey eyes flickered to someone horrible and disgusting on the wall behind me.

My eyes widened and I scrambled onto the bench, knocking hairbrushes and bottles of hairspray onto the floor, and let out an ear-piercing shriek.

Moments later, Percy had burst into the room, his eyes wild, out of breath, and looking very worried.

"Annabeth! Are you okay?" He followed my eyes to the giant huntsman on the wall. Then he laughed. "You're scared of spiders?"

"KILL IT! FRICKEN KILL THE HORRIBLE THING! KILL IT, PERCY!" I screamed.

He laughed again and took off his shoe, slamming it onto the spider. As he stepped inside, however, neither of us noticed the little devils shut the door.

"There." Percy said with finality, picking up the dead arachnid in some toilet paper and putting it in the bin. "Happy now?"

I nodded with a shiver. "Thank you."

Percy shrugged. "No biggie. But you're scared of spiders?" He repeated.

"No," I said sarcastically. "I absolutely adore them."

He smiled and turned to leave the bathroom, only to discover the door shut and the handle jammed from the other side.

The smile vanished from his face so completely it was hard to imagine he ever smiled at all.

"Little brats," He growled under his breath. "Tyler! Sienna! Open this door right now or so help me!"

I heard some giggling and two pairs of little feet as the siblings fled the hallway.

"Ah! TYLER!" Percy bellowed.

Now it was me trying not to laugh. Percy pounded on the door with his fist, but the kids were long gone.

Percy swore and slid to the floor. I stayed on my little perch on the bench.

We sat in silence for a few minutes before Percy spoke up. "So tell me about yourself."

I bit my lip. What do I tell him? "Oh, well, I'm seventeen, from San Francisco-"

"That wasn't what I meant," He interrupted, though not rudely. "I mean, like, your interests and stuff." **A/N: cough* TFIOS cough***

"I knew that. I like reading, and I want to be an architect, and I used to play violin, and I hate spiders, and surprises, and..." I trailed off, not sure what else to say. "What are your interests?"

Percy grinned.

"I play in a band, as you know, I am a guitarist and lead singer, and I am on the school swim team, I love the beach and my favourite colour is blue."

"Is your band any good?" If the other members were half as good as he was, them they must've been awesome.

Percy shrugged. "We're alright," He said modestly, then with a smirk he added, "though I'm not sure its your type of music, Miss Violinist."

He was probably right, I wasn't exactly a fan of Nirvana, or Metallica, and others of that sort. "I can appreciate good music, regardless of the genre."

"Is that so?" He raised an eyebrow, and I nodded matter-of-factly. "Well, then you should bring some friends to my next gig."

Trying to hold in my excitement, I said, "When is it?"

He told me the date and the address, then stood up. "Righto, I'm starving. Let's bust this door down."

Then, he charged at the door, with his shoulder forward to force the door open. But the door opened on its own, and instead Percy was sent careening into another man.

Holding in a laugh, I watched as the two of them fell into the hallway, a look of absolute shock plastered on the other man's face.

I rushed out to help them to their feet.

"Whoops," Percy apologised. "Sorry Paul."

"What on earth were you _doing _Percy?" the man questioned, and looked up from dusting off his pants.

My jaw dropped. "Mr Blofis? What are you doing here?"

"I could ask the same of you, Annabeth." My English teacher said.

"Uh, Annabeth, Paul is my mom's boyfriend, and Paul, this is the kids' new babysitter." Percy explained.

Mr Blofis, or Paul, gave me a small smile and turned to Percy. "Sally still at work?"

When Percy nodded, Paul went to make himself a coffee.

We went to follow him to the kitchen, when I saw Sienna peeking out from behind their bedroom door. Apparently, Percy did too, because he lunged for the door.

Tyler and Sienna shrieked as Percy and I burst into the room, fleeing under their beds.

"You little beasts," Percy said as he pulled Tyler out and started tickling him. The two of us tickle-tortured the kids until they were begging for us to stop between giggles, promising they wouldn't do it again.

* * *

As soon as I was home with my own brothers, I missed being at the Jackson's.

Bobby and Matthew were eleven, and _much_ more annoying than Ty and Sienna. Trying to do homework with twins pulling your hair and stealing your pencil is not easy.

Don't even ask _how _they got in my room.

"Will you get out of my room!" I cracked it, shooting to my feet and grabbed the twins by their arms. I pushed them outside and slammed the door.

_I'll kill those little maggots, _I thought, checking my phone. I had two texts from Thalia, and I one from Piper.

Piper's said:

_Hey bae! I have something really important to tell you! Call me as soon as you get this ;P_

I dialled Piper's number, and only waited a second before she answered.

"Annabeth!" She shouted so loud, I had to hold the phone away from my ear. "Guess WHAT!"

"What?" I replied with a considerably smaller amount of enthusiasm.

She startled rambling like she does when she's happy. "Well, I met this really cute guy and his name's Jason and he plays the drums and he plays football and he's blonde and perfect and he asked me out and he's just _perfect _an-"

She said all that without taking a single breath. "Hang on, I can't understand a word you're saying. Who's Jason?"

I could imagine the blush on her face as she described their meeting to me. She was working in the restaurant as a waitress, and, typical movie style, she tripped over a chair and spilled smoothie all over him. They ended up having a long conversation, and then Jason asked her if she wanted to see movie sometime.

"Piper, that great! Way to go!" I said smiling. Piper was an absolutely stunning girl, and she had a great personality, I hoped this Jason guy would be good to her.

She said we'd talk more about it at school, and said goodbye.

Thalia's texts were predictably about Percy.

_Yo! How was the nanny job? Did you find out what school he goes to? _

And the second one was : _Annie, don't ignore me! :(_

Rolling my eyes, I texted back.

_I wasn't ignoring you, Thals. And the _babysitting _job was fine, and no I didn't find out what school Percy goes to. I did find out that he's in a band tho..._

Thalia's reply was almost instant.

_Really? What is it called, are they good? _

I said that I didn't know, but that he had invited me to come to one of his gigs. Thalia demanded that the five of us go to see him play, then she left to do some 'homework'.

That night I spent listening to some of bands Percy had told me about after tickle-torturing his siblings. He said his band played covers of Three Days Grace, There For Tomorrow, 3 Doors Down, and Linkin Park, so I was determined to listen to it. From what I'd heard, Percy had the kind of voice that could sing anything, so I was looking forward to seeing him play.

I fell asleep with my headphones in my ears, imagining Percy on stage playing these songs.

* * *

**Eh, bad ending, and I took a long time. **

**Soz :/**

**Please, any ideas for what Percy's band name should be?**

**Please R&amp;R ;P**


	3. Chapter 3

**Hey guys!**

**Thanks all for such the wonderful band names! Now I just have to pick one! XD**

**Hope you enjoy this chapter!**

**Oh, and Leo, Nico, Annabeth and her friends go to Goode, Percy and Jason and their friends go to Yancy (?)**

* * *

Percy's POV

I knocked on Jason's front door, guitar case in hand.

His mom answered the door. "Hey Percy. They're in the garage."

Beryl Grace was a nice lady, but she was a bit... distant. She and Jason lived alone, ever since his dad left with his big sister. Jason couldn't remember his sister, and Beryl never mentioned her or his dad.

I made my way to the garage, which Jason had turned into our bandroom, since Beryl kept the cars in the driveway anyway. The guys were already down there, preparing their equipment.

Nico, our bassist was tuning his base. Nico was a gloomy kid, with his dark hair, dark eyes, olive skin and dark clothes.

Jason was playing his drums. His blonde hair was gelled up in a quiff. He and Leo, our sound guy, were juniors.

The three were cousins on our dads' side, though known of us really knew our dad except for Nico.

Leo was a scrawny Latino kid, and he was the kind of person you normally wouldn't let anywhere near electrical devices, but he was cool.

And Luke was our rhythm guitarist. He also acted as our manager of sorts, getting us gigs and trying to get us a record deal. He was the oldest out of all of us, lucky bugger was out of school.

"Yo Perce!" Leo called. "What took you so long?"

"Mom was at work. I had to help the babysitter."

Jason stopped playing his drums. "You have a babysitter? Dude, that's the saddest thing I've ever heard in my entire life."

The other boys snickered, and I rolled my eyes, plugging my black guitar into the amp. "_I _don't have one, the kids do."

"Whatever guys, we need to get some practice in." Luke said. Always the hard-worker.

Leo ran to his sound station, and Nico picked his base and joined us on 'stage'.

"What song?" Jason asked, twirling his drum sticks.

Luke thought for a second. "Battle Cry."

"But we're not even performing that song," I frowned.

Luke looked at me like, _That's why we should practice it, dumb ass. _

Shaking my head, I started strumming the chords, and then Luke and Nico joined in, Jason playing a quiet beat.

_Just one more time before I go_  
_I'll let you know_  
_That all this time I've been afraid_  
_Wouldn't let it show_  
_Nobody can save me now, no_  
_Nobody can save me now_

_Stars are only visible in darkness  
Fear is ever-changing and evolving_

Jason started rocking the drums.

_And I, I can poison inside_  
_But I, I feel so alive_

_Nobody can save you now_  
_The king is crowned_  
_It's do or die_  
_Nobody can save me now_  
_The only sound_  
_Is the battle cry_  
_Is the battle cry_  
_Is the battle cry_  
_Nobody can save me now_  
_It's do or die..._

_Ohhhhh_

_Nobody can save you now_  
_The king is crowned_  
_It's do or die_

_Nobody can save me now_  
_The only sound_  
_Is the battle cry_  
_Is the battle cry_  
_Is the battle cry_  
_Nobody can save me now_  
_It's do or die..._

_Just one more time before I go_  
_I'll let you know_  
_That all this time I've been afraid_  
_Wouldn't let it show_  
_Nobody can save me now, no_  
_Nobody can save me now _ **A/N: This song is actually really awesome! If anyone has seen Transformers 4, its the theme song. Seriously, listen to it and try to imagine them playing :D****  
**

As the song came to a close, Leo whooped.

"That was AWESOME!" He beamed, giving me a high five.

Luke and Jason grinned, and though Nico didn't exactly _look _impressed, we knew he was.

We practised the songs we were going to perform at our next gig for a few hours, but we all had to get home at 8.

"Jason," I said, "We good to play on Friday night?"

He shook his head. "Nah, I have a date." A small smile formed on his face.

Nico scoffed. "When do you not, Grace?"

It was true. Jason dated a lot, which was to be expected considering his looks.

"This time its different."

"What's her name?" I asked.

Jason blushed. "Piper."

Leo almost choked. "Dude, as in Piper McLean? I know her!"

"You do?"

"Yeah," He shrugged. "She's friends with Hazel Levesque and Annabeth Chase, they're in, like, all my classes."

Now it was my turn to choke. "Annabeth's my- I mean, the kids' babysitter."

Luke laughed, still not over the I-have-a-babysitter thing. "Small world."

* * *

Annabeth's POV

The next day, Dad drove me to the Upper East Side to the Jackson's house.

Despite the fact that I was sick. I had insisted on coming, and Dad knew there was no changing my mind.

"See ya later, Dad," I said, getting out of the car.

He frowned at me, giving me that look, like, _you're an idiot, why are you so stubborn. _

I walked into the apartment lobby and took the elevator to the top floor.

When Ms Jackson saw me, she was horrified. "Oh my, Annabeth what are you doing here! I never would've asked you to come if I knew you were sick. Why didn't you tell me?"

I brushed away her concerns. "I'm fine, Sally, really. Its just a bit of a cold."

She ushered me to the couch in the living room. "Lay down, honey, while I get a blanket."

It would probably be rude not to do it, so I sat down length way's on the couch, my feet hanging a little bit over the edge.

Sally covered me with a warm quilt and called Percy down from his room. "Annabeth's sick, can you look after her?"

"Sure Mom."

After asking if I was all right one last time, she hurried off to work.

Percy sat down on the coffee table in front of me. "You do look a bit feverish." He admitted.

My head felt like it was on fire, but the rest of me was shivering.

"I'm okay," I lied.

He raised his eyebrow, seeing right through me. "Sienna!"

The little girl came bolting from the hallway. "Yes?"

"You know how you want to be a nurse?" Sienna nodded eagerly. "Well, Annabeth's not feeling very well, and I need to get her a blanket while I make some soup. Can you do that?"

His little sister beamed and ran to get more blankets.

"Percy, I really do-" I tried to protest, but Percy was already in the kitchen, putting the kettle on.

A guy had never made me soup before, and I wasn't sure what to think. Sienna came back with a fluffy blanket and laid it over me, tucking it into the sides of the couch.

"I think you're going to make a great nurse, Sienna," I said hoarsely, and she smiled from ear to ear.

Sienna went back to her room as Percy came over with a steaming cup of chicken noodle soup. I sat up a little bit and accepted the mug.

"Thanks."

Percy just shrugged nonchalantly.

I took a sip of the drink and smirked. "You make good soup."

"Please," He scoffed with a laugh. "Its one of the instant cup things."

I started to laugh, but it turning into coughing and Percy's smile disappeared. He reached out as I doubled over, patting me on the back.

"Annabeth you okay?"

I nodded. Percy helped me sit up more, adjusting the blankets while I drank the delicious fake chicken soup, which helped me recover from my little episode.

Percy sat back down on the coffee table, his elbows resting on his knees and his hands clasped. His black hair was hanging in his eyes a little bit, which made their bright colour stand out even more. I studied his face as discreetly as I could, but he was staring off into space, completely oblivious to the world. A bit like what Thalia does.

I noticed a lot about him from just sitting there. He was laid-back and easy-going, wearing simple dark jeans, t-shirt and black zip-up hoodie.

Suddenly, his eyes cleared and he turned to look at me. "I'll be right back," Percy said.

A minute later, he appeared with an acoustic guitar in his hands.

"What are you doing?"

He smiled shyly. "The kids love it when I play for them when they're sick, so I'm gonna sing for you."

I tried not to blush. He was just trying to cheer me up.

Percy started playing a beautiful song I recognised as Stairway To Heaven by Led Zeppelin, one of the only songs my dad listened to that I didn't mind. His fingers glided over the strings effortlessly.

_There's a lady who's sure all that glitters is gold_  
_And she's buying a stairway to heaven._  
_When she gets there she knows, if the stores are all closed_  
_With a word she can get what she came for._  
_Ooh, ooh, and she's buying a stairway to heaven._

_There's a sign on the wall but she wants to be sure_  
_'Cause you know sometimes words have two meanings._  
_In a tree by the brook, there's a songbird who sings,_  
_Sometimes all of our thoughts are misgiven._

_Ooh, it makes me wonder,_  
_Ooh, it makes me wonder._

_There's a feeling I get when I look to the west,_  
_And my spirit is crying for leaving._  
_In my thoughts I have seen rings of smoke through the trees,_  
_And the voices of those who stand looking._

_Ooh, it makes me wonder,_  
_Ooh, it really makes me wonder._

_And it's whispered that soon, if we all call the tune,_  
_Then the piper will lead us to reason._  
_And a new day will dawn for those who stand long,_  
_And the forests will echo with laughter._

_If there's a bustle in your hedgerow, don't be alarmed now,_  
_It's just a spring clean for the May queen._  
_Yes, there are two paths you can go by, but in the long run_  
_There's still time to change the road you're on._  
_And it makes me wonder._

_Your head is humming and it won't go, in case you don't know,_  
_The piper's calling you to join him,_  
_Dear lady, can you hear the wind blow, and did you know_  
_Your stairway lies on the whispering wind?_

He didn't play the solo like I was expecting, and he continued to sing in a soft, sweet voice.

_And as we wind on down the road_  
_Our shadows taller than our soul._  
_There walks a lady we all know_  
_Who shines white light and wants to show_  
_How everything still turns to gold._  
_And if you listen very hard_  
_The tune will come to you at last._  
_When all are one and one is all_  
_To be a rock and not to roll._

_And she's buying a stairway to heaven._

I let out a breath. "Wow."

I could've sworn Percy was blushing. "Do you feel better?"

In truth, I really did. The soup and blankets had helped clear my head, and Percy's singing was just so beautiful. I nodded. "How long have you been playing?"

"For as long as I can remember," He shrugged. "My dad was really into music, he was a producer, and this guitar was the one thing he gave me before he...left."

"I'm sorry,"

Percy shook his head. "It's fine. I didn't really know him that well."

I didn't know what to say next. Sally obviously wasn't with Percy's dad any more, but I thought maybe they'd just divorced or something. I never would've imaged that he would've walked out on a woman as lovely as Sally, especially when they had a son.

Percy put his guitar to the side. "Are you friend's with Piper McLean?"

How could he possibly know that? "Yeah, why?"

He smiled. "Well, ironically, she's going on a date with my cousin."

I raised an eyebrow. "Now way!"

"Way."

"So, he'll be at your gig?" I asked, remembering that Piper had said he played drums. Percy confirmed.

"You have a musical family," I noted when he told me the bassist was his other cousin.

He laughed. "You have no idea. Tyler can already play piano like a beast and he's never had a single lesson in his entire life."

Suddenly I felt extremely tired. I yawned, and Percy gently took the empty cup out of my hands. He pulled the blanket up to my chin, and before I knew, I was fast asleep.

* * *

**Aww PERCABETH! **

**Their relationship is moving a lot faster than I would normally write it, but I need the romance! ****  
**

**We shall see some other pairings in the chapters to come, and we will have Percy's gig, which leads me to ask; if you guys have any more band names, I would greatly appreciate it if you would review and let me know. **

**Two people have suggested Final Evolution, which might be a coincidence, do you guys think that's a good name? **

**Please R&amp;R! XD**


	4. Chapter 4

**Hey guys! **

**We have 100 followers! Whoop whoop! You all get virtual cookies (::) ;P**

**Well, most you guys seem to the like the name Final Evolution, so I guess that's Percy's band's name! **

**Enjoy the chapter! XD**

* * *

Annabeth's POV

It was the days of Percy's gig, and Thalia, Reyna, Piper, Hazel, Rachel and I were all piled into Piper's car.

Yes, there was one too many of us, but Piper insisted that it was fine.

We drove to the pub where Percy had said they were playing, and there were a few cars there already.

"They got the word out," Reyna muttered as Piper tried to find a park.

"Let's go," Piper cried as she turned off the engine. "I want to get a good table!"

It was an hour or so before lunch time, and the band had an hour break at 12. Piper had arranged with Jason for the band to sit with us for lunch, so we really needed a big table.

We hurried into the club, requesting a table for ten.

As soon as we were seated and had ordered drinks, people started cheering.

The band was coming on stage. First, an attractive blonde guy took his seat at the drums.

Piper was blushing furiously, a small smile on her lips.

"Is that Jason?" I asked, and she nodded.

Rachel gave her a high five. "Girl, nice score!"

Next out was a gloomy looking kid with a black bass in his hands. His shaggy black kept falling in his eyes, but he didn't seem to care.

Another blonde boy came out, grabbing his guitar. I saw Thalia staring at him, and elbowed her in the ribs, giving her a knowing look. "Oh, shut up Chase."

The girls already squealing at the gorgeous boys on stage, Percy game out from back stage with his guitar and stood at the mic.

"Hey everybody!" He called, and the cheering got louder. "We are Final Evolution, you ready to make some noise!?"

The screaming got so loud it was almost deafening, but the boys were grinning.

"The first song we'll be playing for you today is Come As You Are, by Nirvana!" The blonde guitarist said.

Thalia beamed. "I love this song!"

The dark-haired boy started plucking the strings on his bass for the first line of the main riff, then Jason started playing the beat.

_Come as you are, as you were,  
As I want you to be  
As a friend, as a friend, as an old enemy.  
Take your time, hurry up  
The choice is yours, don't be late.  
Take a rest, as a friend, as an old memoria  
Memoria _[x3]__

_Come dowsed in mud, soaked in bleach_  
_As I want you to be_  
_As a trend, as a friend, as an old memoria_  
_Memoria [x3]_

The boys started jumping around, banging their heads, Jason tossing his drum stick in the air a few times.

_And I swear that I don't have a gun __  
_

_No I don't have a gun _[x2]_  
_

Percy's fingers slid down the fret-board as he played the solo, Jason rocking the drums behind him.

_Memoria _[x4]__

_And I swear that I don't have a gun  
No I don't have a gun _[x5]__

_Memoria_

The crowd cheered as the first song came to close.

"Whoa," Hazel said in absolute awe. "How do they not have a record deal?"

Reyna nodded in agreement. "They're amazing."

On stage, Percy cleared his throat and gestured for the crowd to quieten down. "Thank you everyone! This next song is A Little Faster, by There For Tomorrow."

Jason timed the start with his sticks, and the blonde guitarist started playing the main riff.

Then Percy started playing the chords, and Jason and the bassist joined in with the beat.

_You keep calling it a crash and burn_  
_Just wait your turn_  
_You might have time to speak_  
_There barely was a lesson learned_  
_'Cause in return no favours back to me_

_I'm sure it tasted oh so sweet_  
_But it was never good enough for me_  
_I bit the tongue behind my teeth_  
_It was never good enough for me_

_You said you always keep your word_  
_Show me what you're after_  
_I thought you promised me the world_  
_Tell me what you're after_  
_Go on and take you way too far_  
_'Cause here we are, waiting once again_  
_You said you always keep your word_  
_Show me what you're after_  
_Just a little faster_

_Are mine the only eyes that see, so steadily_  
_This cut and dry routine_  
_Even when you're by my side_  
_I still need time to feel the company_

_I'm sure it tasted oh so sweet_  
_But it was never good enough for me_  
_I bit the tongue behind my teeth_  
_It was never good enough for me_

_You said you always keep your word_  
_Show me what you're after_  
_I thought you promised me the world_  
_Tell me what you're after_  
_Go on and take you way too far_  
_'Cause here we are, waiting once again_  
_You said you always keep your word_  
_Show me what you're after_  
_Just a little faster_

_Just a little faster_

_Hold your breath now_  
_The bad blood's wearing thin_  
_From the pain that settles in_  
_When we learn too much too soon_  
_Hold your breath now_  
_The bad blood's wearing thin_  
_From the pain that settles in_  
_When we learn too much too soon_

_Too soon_

_You said you always keep your word_  
_Show me what you're after_  
_I thought you promised me the world_  
_Tell me what you're after_  
_Go on and take you way too far_  
_'Cause here we are, waiting once again_  
_You said you always keep your word_  
_Show me what you're after_

_It was never good enough for me (It was never good enough for me)_  
_Show me what you're after_  
_Just a little faster _

**A/N: Go listen to that song, I think that is how Percy's voice would sound. Or he would sound like Luke from 5SOS**

The boys put their instruments on the stands. "If you don't mind, we'll be having an hour break. See you guys later!" Jason said to the clapping crowd.

Without even a glance at his band-mates, Percy leapt off the stage and approached our table, sliding into the chair next to me. The girls may or may not have purposely put me and Piper on the edge.

"Hey Annabeth, glad you could make it." Percy beamed, a bit out of breath.

I smiled at him, "Wouldn't miss it, you guys are amazing."

The rest of the band came over, and Piper jumped to her feet, wrapping her arms around Jason, whose face lit up as he hugged her back.

The other three band members sat down, and Percy introduced us. "This is Nico, Luke, and you guys know Leo," The Hispanic boy flashed his impish smile and waved.

"Well, this is Thalia, Reyna, Rachel and Hazel."

Nico said hello to the girls. "Now, can we get food, I'm starving."

"You're always hungry, di Angelo." Luke rolled his eyes.

Thalia laughed, "I'm actually really hungry, too."

Percy held up his hand and called for a waiter.

A pretty girl with dark hair and brown eyes approached the table with a notepad and pen in hand. "Hey Percy, what can I get you guys?"

We all ordered burgers, expect for Piper, who was a vegetarian. She ordered a salad.

The waitress wrote down our orders. "Anything else?"

The guys ordered some drinks, but we already had ours from earlier.

"Alright then, I'll be back soon with your food," She said with a smile, walking to the kitchen.

Percy turned to me, as if he knew I was wondering how they knew each other. "That's Katie Gardner, she goes to my school."

The food didn't take long, and we all dug in to the delicious burgers. Percy and Nico practically inhaled their, I mean seriously, those two could eat.

We got into a huge, lengthy conversation. What schools did we go to, where were we from, what grade were we in, stuff like that.

I took a sip from my root beer float.

"So, Annabeth." Luke leaned across the table. "You're Percy's babysitter, huh?"

Percy groaned, rolling his eyes and running a hand through his already messy black hair.

Thalia smirked. "Actually, she's Percy's _nanny._"

"Oh my god!" Percy and I exclaimed in unison. "I'm not his nanny," at the same time he said, "She's not my babysitter."

My friends stifled their laughter, but Percy's made so such effort and burst out laughing. Leo had pretty much fallen out of his chair.

"Haha," Percy dead-panned. "You guys are hilarious."

Even though it was annoying, I still couldn't stop my lips from lifting at the corners.

Next to me, Reyna gave me a nudge. She raised her eyebrows as if to say, _as if you don't like this guy! _

I shoved her back, hoping my cheeks weren't as red as they felt.

TIME LAPSE

"Hey guys, we're back!" Jason said into his microphone, back at his drums. "The next we're going to play for you is Nothing Else Matters by Metallica." **A/N: I can play this on guitar! **

The crowd applauded as Percy started to play this intro.

The rest of the band joined in as he started to sing.

_So close no matter how far_  
_Couldn't be much more from the heart_  
_Forever trusting who we are_  
_And nothing else matters_

_Never opened myself this way_  
_Life is ours, we live it our way_  
_All these words I don't just say_  
_And nothing else matters_

_Trust I seek and I find in you_  
_Every day for us something new_  
_Open mind for a different view_  
_And nothing else matters_

_Never cared for what they do_  
_Never cared for what they know_  
_But I know_

_So close no matter how far_  
_Couldn't be much more from the heart_  
_Forever trusting who we are_  
_And nothing else matters_

_Never cared for what they do_  
_Never cared for what they know_  
_But I know_

Luke played the interlude.

_Never opened myself this way_  
_Life is ours, we live it our way_  
_All these words I don't just say_  
_And nothing else matters_

_Trust I seek and I find in you_  
_Every day for us something new_  
_Open mind for a different view_  
_And nothing else matters_

_Never cared for what they say_  
_Never cared for games they play_  
_Never cared for what they do_  
_Never cared for what they know_  
_And I know_

Percy started to play the awesome solo, and then Luke continued to play the intro over Percy's voice.

_So close no matter how far_  
_Couldn't be much more from the heart_  
_Forever trusting who we are_  
_No nothing else matters_

Luke's playing gradually faded to silence, and the applause was louder than ever.

Rachel tucked at my sleeve from the other side of the table. "Annabeth, Percy's so CUTE! How do you two find guys like that!" She said, addressing me and Piper.

Piper shrugged. "I spilled smoothie all over him."

"And I became a _babysitter_," I said, adding extra emphasis to 'babysitter', which only widened Thalia's snicker.

I caught her looking up on stage. "Got a bit of a crush too, Thals?"

With a shake her head, as if to snap herself out of her daze, she turned to look at me, that murderous look that usually meant she was trying to hide her embarrassment in her blue eyes.

Hazel laughed. "You guys act like you should be ashamed for liking them. Its adorable!"

Reyna agreed. "True that, especially you, Annabeth. Percy's hot!"

"Why do you guys keep picking on me," I fake pouted, blushing furiously.

"Aww, poor Annie!" The girls chorused.

I pointed at Piper. "You're one to talk about 'having a crush on a cute guy'!"

"Actually," Piper rebutted. "I'm _dating _a cute guy."

I rolled my eyes and crossed my eyes, turning away from my friends.

"Don't bother with the silent treatment, you know you won't last long." Rachel said, but I just turned further away, focusing on Final Evolution as they prepared for their next song.

* * *

**Aww, Annabeth's embarrassed! **

**The rest of the gig will probably by in the next chapter.**

**I hope you enjoyed this, please R&amp;R! XD**


	5. Chapter 5

**Yo guys!**

**We got over fifty reviews, over half-way to a hundred! **

**Please review guys!**

* * *

I started playing the main riff, and after one line, Jason joined in with the beat and Luke started playing the chords.

_I took a walk around the world  
To ease my troubled mind  
I left my body lying somewhere  
In the sands of time  
But I watched the world float  
To the dark side of the moon_

_I feel there is nothing I can do, yeah_

_I watched the world float__  
_

_To the dark side of the moon  
After all I knew it had to be  
Something to do with you  
I really don't mind what happens now and then  
As long as you'll be my friend at the end_

_If I go crazy then will you still_  
_Call me Superman_  
_If I'm alive and well, will you be_  
_There a-holding my hand_  
_I'll keep you by my side_  
_With my superhuman might_  
_Kryptonite_

_You called me strong, you called me weak,_  
_But still your secrets I will keep_  
_You took for granted all the times_  
_I never let you down_  
_You stumbled in and bumped your head,_  
_If not for me then you'd be dead_  
_I picked you up and put you back on solid ground_

_If I go crazy then will you still_  
_Call me Superman_  
_If I'm alive and well,_  
_Will you be there a-holding my hand_  
_I'll keep you by my side_  
_With my superhuman might_  
_Kryptonite_

Luke played the solo, then I started playing the main riff again very softly.

_If I go crazy then will you still  
Call me Superman  
If I'm alive and well, will you be there  
Holding my hand  
I'll keep you by my side  
With my superhuman might  
Kryptonite  
Yeah!_

_If I go crazy then will you still_  
_Call me Superman_  
_If I'm alive and well,_  
_Will you be there a-holding my hand_  
_I'll keep you by my side_  
_With my superhuman might_  
_Kryptonite_

_Oh, whoa, whoa_  
_Oh, whoa, whoa_  
_Oh, whoa, whoa_

There was a roar from the crowd as the song came to an end. Jason smiled to the crowd, but I saw that his eyes were on Piper.

"Nice goin' dude," I winked discreetly at him.

"Shut up, Jackson. Play the next song."

I smirked at turned back to the microphone. "Our next song is Boulevard of Broken Dreams by Green Day."

Luke started playing the first chords, Leo putting his guitar on distortion.

_I walk a lonely road_  
_The only one that I have ever known  
_

Jason and Nico played the beat and I played the riff.

_Don't know where it goes_  
_But it's home to me and I walk alone_

_I walk this empty street_  
_On the Boulevard of Broken Dreams_  
_Where the city sleeps_  
_And I'm the only one and I walk alone_

_I walk alone_  
_I walk alone_  
_I walk alone_  
_I walk a..._

_My shadow's the only one that walks beside me_  
_My shallow heart's the only thing that's beating_  
_Sometimes I wish someone out there will find me_  
_'Til then I walk alone_

_Ah-ah, ah-ah, ah-ah, aaah-ah,_  
_Ah-ah, ah-ah, ah-ah_

_I'm walking down the line_  
_That divides me somewhere in my mind_  
_On the border line_  
_Of the edge and where I walk alone_

_Read between the lines_  
_What's messed up and everything's alright_  
_Check my vital signs_  
_To know I'm still alive and I walk alone_

_I walk alone_  
_I walk alone_  
_I walk alone_  
_I walk a..._

_My shadow's the only one that walks beside me_  
_My shallow heart's the only thing that's beating_  
_Sometimes I wish someone out there will find me_  
_'Til then I walk alone_

_Ah-ah, ah-ah, ah-ah, aaah-ah_  
_Ah-ah, ah-ah_

_I walk alone_  
_I walk a..._

I played the solo, and went back to the starting chords.

_I walk this empty street_  
_On the Boulevard of Broken Dreams_  
_Where the city sleeps_  
_And I'm the only one and I walk a..._

_My shadow's the only one that walks beside me_  
_My shallow heart's the only thing that's beating_  
_Sometimes I wish someone out there will find me_  
_'Til then I walk alone..._

Luke and I played played the last riff together, Nico backing us up with his bass.

The crowd cheered, and someone even whistled.

My band-members shared grins as we went backstage.

"Guys!" Leo beamed. "That was AWESOME!" He gave us all high-fives.

After packing all our instruments (which was a struggle with Jason's massive drum set and all of Leo's electronics) into our van, aka Luke's old Volkswagen,we met up with the girls again in the carpark.

They were waiting by an awesome looking Lexus.

"You guys have _great _taste in music!" Thalia declared.

"She really loves Green Day," Annabeth clarified.

Jason grinned. "So does Nico. It's kinda annoying."

"Hey!"

Piper walked over and gave Jason a hug, though I caught her giving him a quick kiss on the cheek. "We have to go, Dad wanted me back by 3."

"You guys are amazing, good job." Reyna said, getting in shotgun.

"Yeah, we definitely have to meet up again sometime," Rachel agreed with a smile.

The girls piled into the Lexus, Piper getting in the driver's seat.

"See ya, Percy," Annabeth said before she closed the door, and I waved.

As their car drove away, I elbowed Jason in the ribs. "Dude! She totally kissed you!"

TIME LAPSE

The next day Annabeth was over to babysit the kids.

Mom and Paul had left ages ago, off to have lunch for their four month anniversary of being a couple, and the kids were tired with their toys, which was beyond strange.

We were all sitting on the couch, bored out of our minds with nothing to do.

"Got any movies?" Annabeth suggested.

I sighed. "Not any that they haven't seen a bajillion times. I swear, if I have to watch Frozen one more time-"

Annabeth and the kids groaned. I threw my head back against the coach and stared at the ceiling.

"We could go to the park?" I said.

Sienna cheered. "YES! Swings!"

She loved swings.

"Great idea, Perce," Annabeth said. She got off the couch and grabbed her shoulder-bag.

Tyler, Sienna and I bolted to our rooms. I slipped on a zip-up hoodie and grabbed my skateboard.

Sienna had put on her sneakers and Tyler had a basketball.

"Let's go!" Tyler said excitedly, running to door so fast he almost couldn't stop.

We went in the elevator to the lobby and then Annabeth held the kids' hands as we crossed the street.

Ty and Sienna knew the way to park like they knew the back of their hand, so I wasn't too worried when they ran a bit ahead. As long as I could see them, they were good. They knew to wait before crossing the road.

Annabeth walked beside me as I rolled along on my skateboard.

"Is it okay for them to be that far ahead of us?" She asked, concerned.

I shrugged, hands in my pockets. "They'll be fine, as long as they don't fall over."

Annabeth raised an eyebrow at me. "You really are quite irresponsible."

"I get that a lot," I smirked, and Annabeth rolled her eyes. "I'm not that bad! I do my homework and stuff."

"So doing homework makes you responsible?" Annabeth said.

I huffed. "Yes, it does. And I clean my room too, sometimes."

She laughed, and it was pretty much the best sounds I'd ever heard.

From where I was, I could her face without her noticing, and I hadn't realised how pretty she actually was. Like, I knew was cute, but she more than that.

Her curly blonde hair was in a ponytail, and she was wearing rolled-up dark skinny jeans, black Converse shoes and a light grey sweater with the sleeves pushed up to her elbows. Her grey eyes sparkled, and her skin was flawless, without a touch of make-up.

I was snapped back to reality when Annabeth asked me a question.

"Shouldn't you start to slow down now?"

I hadn't been paying attention, and had completely missed the intersection coming up.

"Crap!" I exclaimed. I jumped off my board and it continued to roll down the hill towards my brother and sister. "Sienna! Can you get that for me?"

She looked up and stopped the runaway skateboard just before it rolled under a car.

I shared a look with Annabeth. "Whoops."

She laughed, and we ran down the hill.

The park was just across the road, and as soon as we got there, Sienna was on the swing.

Annabeth was stuck with pushing her, since she couldn't do it herself yet. Ty and I went to the basketball court.

Tyler tried shooting his ball, but the hoops were a bit high for him.

"Higher Annabeth," I could hear Sienna saying, squealing in delight as she swung back and forth.

Tyler was dribbling the ball around me, despite the fact the I was rolling around on my skateboard.

"Dude, you're going to make me crash."

"Hey, Percy, can we play two-on-two?"

I looked over at Sienna and Annabeth. Annabeth already looked done with pushing Sienna on the swing.

"Sienna!" I called. "Wanna play basketball? You can be on my team!"

My little sister beamed and leapt off the still moving swing. She and Annabeth made her way over to us, and Tyler passed me the ball.

"Alright guys, basic rules, but no contact."

Annabeth nodded, since that rule really only applied to the two of us.

It was Annabeth and I in the jump, and Ty threw the ball into the air. Even though I towered over Annabeth, I had to rise on my toes to keep the ball. Damn, that girl could jump!

I rolled the ball to Sienna, who picked it up and ran for the goals, dribbling the ball.

Tyler knocked the ball out of her hands, and Annabeth grabbed it and shot for a three. It would've made it, but I jumped up and snatched the ball from the air.

Passing it back to Sienna. I lifted her above my head, and Sienna made a dunk.

"Whooo!" We cheered, me carrying my sister on my shoulder. "We rule!"

Annabeth rolled her eyes, but she had a smile on her face. "Whatever, it's our ball."

She glanced at Tyler, standing at the boundary line. She passed to Ty, and the little guy ran for all he was worth.

Leaving the defence to Sienna, I tried to block Annabeth from the goals. If I could keep her behind me, I would definitely get the rebound.

With amazing speed, Annabeth dodged around me as Tyler made the shot.

The balled bounced of the backboard, but Annabeth was there. She grabbed the ball and slammed it through the hoop.

"Ooohhh! Allie-oop! Get burned Percy!"

She and Tyler high-fived.

The game went on like that, until we eventually agreed to call it a draw.

The kids went to play on the play-ground, but Annabeth and I stayed on the courts.

She was shooting hoops, and I was riding my skateboard, trying to master the kickflip.

"You're not bad," Annabeth remarked.

I turned around the basketball pole. "Why thank-you."

She shrugged.

"You skate?"

She shook her head and laughed. "God no!"

I jumped off and kicked the back, tipping the nose into my hand. "Wanna try, I can teach you."

"No, I'll probably kill myself," Was she blushing?

I held the board out to her. "I won't let go, promise."

Yeah, she was definitely blushing.

Hesitantly, Annabeth took the board and set it on the ground. She stepped onto it, and I held her shoulders to keep her steady.

"Good, now push off with your foot."

She did as I said and I walked beside her as she rolled around the court.

Annabeth was doing great... until I let go.

"Awesome, Annab-" I started to say, but without me to hold her up, she fell back and the skateboard flew out from under her feet.

I tried to catch her, but she crashed to the ground, landing hard on her butt.

I covered my mouth, barely able to contain my laugh.

"I. Hate. You." She said, but she was laughing to.

* * *

**Awwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww! PERCABETH!**

**Percy would be the BEST big bro**

**Please R&amp;R! XD**


	6. Chapter 6

**Hey guys, I know you probably really wanted an update, so I'm super sorry but you need to read this!**

**My laptop is given to me to use by the school, and the rental term is up so I have to give it back on Tuesday! I won't have my own laptop again till next year, so I won't be able to update as often. **

**I promise I will try to write as often as I can! **

**Bye guys XD**


	7. Chapter 7

**Hey guys :D **

**Thank the gods for mum's iPad!**

* * *

After completely embarrassing myself in front of Percy, we played with the kids on the playground for a bit.

Even though we could barely fit, Percy and I chased Tyler and Sienna through the tunnels and down the slides.

We played for hours, until they were absolutely exhausted.

"Do you want to get some ice cream?" Percy offered.

"Yes!" Tyler said with as much excitement as he could muster. Sienna whooped as loud as she could.

"Let's go then!" Percy smiled, lifting Sienna onto his shoulders and grabbing his skateboard. I helped Tyler to his feet and the four of us started walking back to the pathway.

Sally had said that she and Paul wouldn't be back until about 11 o'clock that night, being on their anniversary, so we had plenty of time to walk to the ice cream parlour.

Thankfully for our exhausted feet, it was only a short walk.

The kids sat down at a table after telling Percy what they wanted, then the two of us ordered the ice cream.

"Can I please get two rainbow ice creams in a small cone, please," Percy said to the man at the counter. He ordered a mint choc chip for himself, and I got a vanilla.

Tyler and Sienna devoured their ice creams, and went out to the small playground outside.

"How do they still have the energy for that?" I said, confused. "They were practically dead two minutes ago."

Percy smirked. "Remember when I said they go crazy when you give them sugar, well I wasn't lying."

We both looked out at the kids running around and climbing things.

"How's school going?" I asked. No matter how cliche the question was, it felt appropriate. Winter break was coming, which meant that Percy was almost finished with high school.

He shrugged, licking his ice cream. "It's ok, I guess. Can't say I'm excited for exams though."

"Are you going to go to collage?"

"I don't know. I want to, but our bands finally starting to go somewhere, and Mom probably can't afford it anyway."

He sounded really down about it, which surprised me. Percy didn't seem like the kind of guy who would want to go to collage. I'd imagined that when he'd finished, he'd go and travel with his band.

I looked out at Ty and Sienna, and had a thought. "If Sally and Paul have only be dating for a year, then who's Tyler and Sienna's dad?"

Percy frowned, his face darkening immediately, making me immediately regret my question.

"I'm sorry, you don't have to answer that. I shouldn't have asked."

"It's fine, Annabeth," He dismissed the comment with a shake of his head. "Mom was married to this man called Gabe, a few years after Dad left. He was really good to us for a while, and they had the kids, but then he started to drink and gamble and became really abusive.

"I wish I had've been older, so I could've protected Mom better, but she eventually kicked him out and we lived on our own, barely managing to get by even with Mom and I working about three jobs between us."

"I'm sorry," I said again, not sure what else I could say.

"Don't worry about it, it was ages ago, and it only made the four of us closer."

Percy didn't talk again until he finished his ice cream, which only made me feel horrible and definitely made me worry about him.

When his brother and sister came back in, Percy picked up his skate board.

"How about we get some DVD's to watch his Mom gets back." He said, his bright smile back as if it have never left.

But I couldn't help but notice the tension in his shoulders as he walked beside me.

* * *

We ended up borrowing How To Drain Your Dragon, the Lego Movie, Mr Peabody and Sherman, and Percy absolutely insisted that we get Finding Nemo.

While Percy set up the the DVD, I made two bowls of popcorn, one for Tyler and Sienna and the other for me and Percy.

The kids plopped down on a couple of bean bags, Percy lounged on the big couch, and I sat next to him, holding our bowl of popcorn.

We watched the movies in silence, other than the kids laughing at the crummy jokes, especially the puns in Mr Peabody and Sherman. It was so quiet I could hear Percy's steady breathing from the other end of the couch. He hadn't even touched the popcorn, and it wasn't until we were halfway through the Lego Movie that I realised he was dead asleep.

_So much for watching Nemo, _I thought.

The kids soon followed his example, a soft snore coming from Ty, and I found my eyes closing in the dark room. I had no idea what the time was, but it was obviously late, and I was exhausted.

I knew I was supposed to go home, but I couldn't keep my eyes open any longer.

* * *

I woke somewhere that was definitely not my house.

Something firm but strangely comfortable was under my head, and my legs were sticking out over the edge of the couch. A blanket covered me up to my chest, another one covering the thing I was lying on.

Disorientated and slow from sleep, I didn't notice I was in the Jackson's apartment until I sat up and realised I'd been resting against Percy's shin, tucked in close so he'd fit on the couch.

Tyler and Sienna were gone, but Percy still had his eyes closed.

I got off the couch, and found Sally and Paul in the kitchen with the kids.

"Morning, Annabeth," Paul smiled, looking up from pouring six glasses of orange juice.

"Hi Mr Blofis," I replied groggily, rubbing my eyes and letting out a yawn.

Sally turned around, leaving her spot by the stove to place some pancakes on a large plate. "We were going to wake you, but Percy sleeps like the dead. I called your parents, they know you're here."

"Oh," I muttered. I'd totally forgotten about Mom and Dad. "Thanks."

I sat down at the kitchen bench, next to a Sienna.

Sally dished out the pancakes, getting maple syrup out of the fridge.

Paul handed me a glass and went back to the living room to wake Percy. I saw him shaking Percy's shoulder, but he really _did _sleep like the dead.

When Paul came back in defeat, the young siblings sprinted to the couch and leapt on top of Percy.

The rest of us winced as all we heard was an agonised groan. "Get off!" Percy protested.

"Honey," Sally called, fighting off a laugh. "I made pancakes."

I burst out laughing as Percy shot into the chair next to me, his seat skidding to the right with the force. "Are they blueberry?" He asked hopefully.

Sally smiled as she scooped three onto his plate. "Your favourite."

The six of us dug into Sally's delicious blueberry pancakes, and I had as many as I could before Percy ate them all, until I felt like my stomach would explode.

"Thank you, Sally. Those were amazing!" I said leaning back in my chair.

"Mom makes the best pancakes on the planet!" Percy exclaimed, his mouth still full of the food.

"Ew!" Sienna said.

Sally rolled her eyes at her oldest son's manners. "Do you need me to drive you home?"

I was about to reply, when Percy did for me.

"I can take her, the boys and I have practice anyway."

Paul raised an eyebrow.

"I might just have a couple more before we go..." Percy reached for the big plate, but Sally slapped his hand away.

"Percy! You've had, like, a hundred!" She scolded.

I laughed again at Percy's pout. "Fine, come on Annabeth."

He went to his room to get his guitar, before meeting me at the door. He led me to the apartment garage, where we got into Sally's old Mitsubishi.

Percy put his guitar in the back seat and sat in the drivers seat.

"You're a good driver, right?" I said as I sat in the passenger side.

He put his hand on his heart, feigning hurt. "How dare you question my ability to drive."

I smirked, and Percy pulled out of the garage and into New York traffic.

I directed him to me pay house, and we sang along to Animals by Maroon 5. We sang way louder than necessary, and Percy even copied the howl, which made me laugh so hard my sides hurt.

When he pulled up outside my house, I almost didn't want to leave.

* * *

"Where have you been?" My mother demanded.

"I was babysitting Ms Jackson's kids."

Athena looked up from her dishes. "So late at night? Where was she?"

I rolled my eyes discreetly. "On her anniversary. I was just watching movies with the kids and we feel asleep."

"Who drove you home?" My mother was always suspicious.

"Her son."

Mom raised her eyebrows. "Her son? You didn't tell me she had another son."

"Mom-" I started to say.

"Do you mean to tell me that you've been with a boy without adult supervision, in his house?!" Her grey eyes flashed in anger.

"Mom! Oh my god! Percy isn't like that."

"How old is he?"

I bit my lip. "Eighteen."

Mom smacked the bench. "Why didn't you tell me this!?"

"Because I knew this was how you'd react!"

Both our voices were rising, and Bobby and Matthew had poked their heads out of the stairwell.

Dad come into the room. "What's going on?"

"She's _babysitting _an _eighteen _year old boy!" Mom exclaimed, her expression nothing but anger.

"Athena," Dad frowned. "Annabeth's responsible, I'm she'd never do anything stupid."

I held up my hands. "Thank you Dad!"

I bounded up the stairs to my room and threw myself onto my bed. Athena always did this.

She didn't trust me to do anything. How could even think I'd be doing anything with him?

Before Mom could up to check on me, I phoned Thalia.

I needed to get out of here before I exploded.

* * *

**Ta-da! **

**Sorry for the really long wait, but hopefully this was a good chapter and you guys liked it XD **

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	8. Chapter 8

**Hey guys! **

**Please review, I'm hoping we can get 100 by the time we reach chapter 10**

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* * *

"She's just so... over-protective! Like, I'm babysitting this lady's kids." I exclaimed in frustration.

Thalia nodded slowly, acting like she understood my pain.

We were sitting in our favourite café, and she was stirring sugar into her coffee.

"Yeah, what's going again?"

"Ugh Thals!"

She held up her hands. "I'm sorry, I'm tired!"

I sighed and told her again what Mom had said.

"Ok, so Athena thinks you and Percy are..." Thalia made a gesture to indicate a romantic relationship.

I rolled my eyes. "Yes." I said, ready for her hysterical laughter.

Thalia exploded into fits of giggles, spilling some of her drink onto the table.

"Why do I even bother telling you this stuff?" I crossed my arms.

She shrugged, gasping for breath. "Look, Annie, sorry I laughed, but seriously. You spend heaps of time at a stranger's house, with a hot boy who is older than you. It's no wonder your mom's concerned."

"Well what am I supposed to do about it?"

"I don't know, invite them over for dinner or something."

Huh, that actually wasn't a bad idea. Mom would get to meet Sally and Percy, and then she'd learn that he's not that type of guy.

Seeing my expression, Thalia nodded smugly. "See Annabeth, that's why you tell me this stuff."

"Whatever."

* * *

Back at home, I decided to tell Dad first.

He nodded once, buried in his history work. "I think that's a great idea, sweetie." He said absently.

"Did you actually _hear _my idea, Dad?"

He nodded again. "Sure, sweetie."

_Why do I surround myself with people you have the attention span of a goldfish_, I wondered.

"Never mind." I deadpanned.

Mom was sitting in the living room, reading a magazine.

She glanced up at me as I came in and sat down across from her.

"Yes, Annabeth?"

I took a deep breath. "I was thinking that, maybe, we could have the Jackson's over for dinner."

Mom raised a dark eyebrow. "Why?"

"Well, you were worried about me being in a stranger's house, so if you met them, you'd know they weren't like that."

"Ok, fine," She said after a moment of thought, turning back to her magazine.

I beamed, trying to contain myself as I bounded out of the room and up the stairs to my room.

* * *

A couple days after, the Jackson's came for dinner.

Mom had decided to make a range of Mexican food, from tacos to enchiladas, and it was making my mouth water even from my room.

Dad set up the table and the twins rushed to clean up all their toys, though I knew Sally would be used to things all the floor.

I got dressed, putting on dark skinny jeans and a nice light grey sweater. I tied my blonde hair into a ponytail and went to help Mom in the kitchen.

Ten minutes later, the door bell rang.

"I'll get it," I said, speed-walking to the door.

"Hey Annabeth!" Sally said, giving me a tight hug.

"Hi Sally," I hugged her back. "Please, come in."

She and Paul walked in, followed by Tyler and Sienna.

Percy was last, and he looked absolutely gorgeous. It looked like he'd at least tried to get his wild black hair under control, and he was wearing jeans and a red flannel over a black t-shirt.

"You look amazing," He flashed a lopsided grin.

I blushed. "Thanks, you too."

We followed the his family to the dining room, where Mom and Dad were introducing themselves to Sally and Paul.

"You must be Percy," My dad said, stepping forward to shake Percy's hand.

Percy grasped Dad's hand. "Nice to meet you, Mr Chase."

Bobby and Matthew ran off to play with Ty and Sienna, and Dad told me to show Percy around while Sally went to help Mom prepare the food.

I showed Percy through the house, and when we got to my room, he whistled.

"You really _do_ like to read," He said, staring at my bookshelves.

I sat down on my bed. "Uh, yeah."

"How on earth do you keep your room so neat?"

"It's called cleaning, Seaweed Brain." I smirked.

Percy turned to look at me. "What did you just call me, Wise Girl."

I laughed. "Calling me 'Wise Girl' isn't an insult, Perce."

He sat down next to me. "Whatever, Wise Girl."

I gave him a small shove, laughing harder.

"Annabeth! Dinner!" Dad called from downstairs, and I raced Percy to the stairwell.

Mom was putting the last plate on the table as we sat down.

"Oh my god," Percy eyed the food. "I'm in heaven!"

Sally frowned at him. "Percy, no."

After seeing how he devoured his pancakes just a few days ago, I smiled at his enthusiasm.

"Dig in," Mom said, passing around a plate of tortillas.

When everyone's plate was full, conversation started. The adults talked about their work, the kids were laughing at everything and nothing, and Percy and I were kinda stuck in the middle of the two conversations until Mom asked Percy a question.

"So Percy, what are you into?"

I shot her a warning look, but her cheery gaze had darkened as it settled on him.

"Well," Percy set down his fork. "I'm in a band, and I like to swim."

"Is your band good?" She asked.

Percy shrugged. "We're getting a lot better, getting more gigs and stuff, I guess we're alright."

"Perce," I interrupted. "You guys are amazing!"

Mom glared discreetly at me. "You've heard them?" It was more an accusation than a question.

"Uh, yeah, Piper's boyfriend is their drummer."

"Yeah, he's my cousin." Percy added. His eyes were dark and I knew he'd noticed Mom's mood.

He glanced at me from the side, as if to ask, _what's with her? _

"Oh, what a coincidence."

"Tell me about it," I muttered as I brought my glass of lemonade to my lips.

Dad saved me and Percy by cutting off Mom to ask Paul about his teaching.

After dinner, I went around and gathered the plates.

"Here, let me help." Percy said, getting up from the seat and taking half of my huge pile.

We walked into the kitchen together, and as soon as the door swung shut behind us, Percy looked at me.

"Is it just me or does your mom seriously dislike me?" He said quietly, loading plates into the dishwasher.

I blushed. "She thinks you and I are kinda... You know." I hoped he knew without me having to say it. Talking to Thalia about it was one thing, but talking about it to _Percy_?

A look of confusion crossed Percy's face, and his cheeks grew redder as he came to a realisation.

"Oh. _Oh,_ oh god," He looked like he might be sick. "I don't give off that kind of impression do I? I mean, I would never use anyone like that!"

In another situation, his reaction might've been funny. "I'm sorry, Perce. I invited you guys over tonight so we could prove her wrong."

Percy nodded. "Ok, well we should get back out there, you know, before she starts to think something's going on."

"Of course," I followed him back to the table, sitting down next to him.

Mom thanked us for cleaning up, her gaze still critical.

We talked for a few hours over coffee, Mom and Dad bombarding Percy with questions about school and stuff. He took it in his stride, even making Dad laugh at some corny joke.

"It was so great to meet you!" Mom said, giving Sally a hug as we stood by the front door.

Sally smiled. "Thank you so much for having us over, Athena, the food was delicious."

Paul and the kids went to their car, followed by Percy and Sally after they'd said goodbye.

Percy grinned at me as he hopped in the back seat next to his sister.

When they'd gone, Dad shut the door and said, "Well, weren't they lovely people, huh honey?"

"Yes, they were," Mom replied.

* * *

The next month passed as most of the year had.

Winter came, and soon the city was covered in snow. I looked after Sienna and Tyler, and my friends and I became really close to Percy's band.

Piper and Jason were literally the cutest couple, and Rachel and I had even come up with a ship name for them.

A week before Christmas, Piper invited us all over to her place for the night.

Not many people knew this, but Piper's dad was the actor Tristan McClean, and her mom was a model. She and Rachel were pretty much filthy rich, but they're didn't like to drag about it.

When I got there with Thalia, they were all there already but Luke, Hazel and Reyna.

Jason, Percy and Nico were playing Mario Kart, shouting ridiculously loud and making exaggerated movement as they turned the wheel.

Piper and Rachel were watching in amusement, and they had mattresses set up in her huge living room.

"Yo!" Leo called from his seat on one of the makeshift beds.

"Ohhhh!" Nico whooped. "Winner!"

Percy gave him a shove. "No way dude, you cheated!"

"How do you even cheat on Mario Kart?" Thalia questioned with a smirk.

"He pushed me off the track," Percy pouted, and Nico laughed evilly.

Piper told us that the other three couldn't make it, so it was just the eight of us.

We all piled onto the couches, playing games on the Wii and Xbox. Unsurprisingly, Thalia kicked ass, like she did at most video games.

Piper had ordered pizza, ordering a lot more than any of us girls would normally eat to compensate for Nico and Percy's huge appetites.

It was a wonder those two weren't fat, considering they practically ate two whole pizzas between the two of them.

"Dude, I'm impressed." Thalia said to Nico with grudging respect, earning her a mock bow.

Jason rolled his eyes, holding Piper's hand as they shared a vegetarian pizza, even though he wasn't vegetarian.

Rachel poured us all a cup, which Leo managed to spill all over himself.

"Aw man," He complained.

He headed upstairs to clean himself up, and the rest of us sat down on our mattresses. Piper and Jason shared the huge futon, Rachel had the couch, and the rest of us were in a line on the floor.

When Leo got back, we put on a movie, watching Wolf Creak 2, which really wasn't a good idea.

None of us could sleep after that, so we played truth or dare.

"Alright," Rachel said. "Truth or Dare... Nico."

"Dare!" He answered immediately.

Rachel dared him to fill Silena's -Piper's half sister- slippers with shaving cream, which was pretty lame to be honest, but we were just warming up.

Nico dared Jason to flash some passing cars, which was hilarious. Then Jason dared Thalia to a piece of clothing with one of us, probably hoping for her to do something embarrassing.

But Thalia simply swapped shoes with me.

"You're such a buzz kill, Thalia," Leo remarked with a smirk.

Thalia glared. "Whatever, you should've been more specific. Anyways, truth or dare Percy."

"Pfft, dare." Percy said, like it should've been obvious.

"Alright, tough guy," Thalia challenged. "I dare you to take a swim, in the clothes you're wearing."

Percy smirked. "Fine."

"Uh," I said. "You realise it's been snowing, right? The water's got to be freezing."

"The pool's heated, he should be fine." Piper said dismissively.

We followed Percy out to the pool. Like Piper had said, the water was heated, but it was still too cold to swim in.

Standing around the deep end, Percy slipped his shirt over his head, doing that cute thing guys do how they grab it behind their head.

Struggling to keep my gaze off his toned stomach, we watched as he readied himself for the plunge.

Jason gave Percy a shove, an evil grin on his face.

A startled expression on his face, Percy whirled as he fell in, managing to grab onto my wrist and pull me with him.

"Seaweed Brain!" I screamed as I came up for air.

Percy flicked his hair out of eyes and grinned at me.

Our friends laughed, and then Jason grabbed Piper round the waist and jumped in after us, followed by Leo.

Rachel dived, then Nico pushed Thalia in before he bombed, almost emptying the pool.

Even though it was cold, I couldn't help but smile as Percy jumped onto Jason's shoulders, bunking his cousin's head under water before Jason grabbed his leg and flipped him over.

Then I knew, that becoming Sally's babysitter was probably the best decision I had ever made.

* * *

**Well, what did you guys think? **

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	9. Chapter 9

**Oh my Gods guys! I actually love you all so much! **

**Thank you so much for all your lovely reviews! **

**Just wanting to know whether you guys want Thalico or Thaluke, I'm not really a shipper of either, so you guys get to decide :)**

* * *

I was practising for our gig in my room when the phone rang.

"I'll get it!" I called, running to the kitchen where the phone hung on the wall.

"Hello?" I said.

Annabeth's muffled voice came through the phone. "Hey, Perce. I'm sorry, but I can't babysit today. I have to look after my brothers."

Admittedly, my heart sunk a little bit. I hadn't seen her for a couple days, and with Christmas coming up, I was hoping to see her. The kids had gotten so attached to Annabeth that they even bought her a present.

"Oh, okay." I answered. "Hey, how about I come over with the kids. I mean, like, they have something to give you."

I cursed myself. What an idiot! Of course I couldn't go over, I just invited myself to this girl's house. _Stupid, stupid!_

"Yeah, that'd be great." She paused for a moment. "Honestly, I was kinda hoping you would."

I felt like I might float away with happiness. "Well, you help with my brother and sister all the time, so it would only be fair... Anyways, I'll see you later."

"See ya, Seaweed Brain."

I put the phone back and turned around. Mom had stopped making her cookies and was raising her eyebrows at me. "You're going to Annabeth's then, huh."

My cheeks grew hot. "She has to look after her brothers, so I'm just gonna take the kids over and help."

Mom had a knowing look on her face, her mouth turning up into a smile.

"Oh, shut up, Mom." I said, looking at the floor and she laughed.

She stepped over and gave me a hug, the top of her head barely reaching my chin.

"I think it's sweet, Percy. She's absolutely perfect for you."

"Mom!" I protested, embarrassed, but I still hugged her back.

She smiled at me and told me to get the kids if I didn't want to be late.

* * *

At the Chase's house, one of the twins answered the door.

He grinned, letting us in. He ran into the lounge room where his brother was playing Wii Sports.

Annabeth was sitting on the couch. "Hey Perce."

"Hi," I replied.

Sienna beamed and jumped on the couch next to her, holding the present in her small hands.

"Merry Christmas!"

Annabeth gasped. "Aw, thank you, Sienna." She opened the present, revealing the pair of earrings inside. "Oh my god."

Sienna asked shyly if she liked them, and Annabeth swept her up into a hug. "I love them!" She put them in her ears.

Tyler was playing the Wii with the twins, and Bobby beckoned for me to take the fourth controller.

"Are you sure you want me to play? I mean, I kick butt at Wii Sports." I grinned.

Annabeth smirked. "Like how you kick butt at Mario Kart?"

"Oh shush," I laughed. "Nico cheated!"

I played with the boys while Sienna braided Annabeth's curly blonde hair. As much as I hate to admit it, Matthew was the best.

I gave the controller to Sienna and sat down next to Annabeth.

"Thanks for coming over, I'm sorry I couldn't go to your place."

I shrugged. "It's okay. So, where are your parent then?"

"They went to a convention thing on architecture. Dad didn't really want to go, but Mom has her ways of getting what she wants."

"Why didn't you go instead?" I asked. "You want to be an architect, don't you?"

Annabeth nodded. "Yeah," she said hesitantly. "I'm just not exactly happy with Mom at the moment."

By now I knew better than to ask why. I just hoped it wasn't still about Athena thinking that we were...together.

We watched the kids play for a while, talking about everything, enjoying each other's company.

Something about Annabeth just me want to talk, so I'd get to hear her voice when she responded, to make corny jokes so she'd laugh.

"Percy! It's snowing!" Sienna shrieked in delight, the boys grabbing coats off the rack next to the door and pulling on their boots.

Annabeth smiled and followed as my sister grabbed my hand and pulled me to the door.

Tyler and Bobby were already flinging snowballs at Matthew, laughing hysterically as the force of their throws and the slippery snow sent Matt tumbling backwards onto his bum.

Annabeth rolled her grey eyes, helping Sienna to make a huge snowman.

When they'd finished his body, I lifted the giant ball that was the snowman's head. The snowman was taller than Annabeth.

"Woah," I whistled, and Annabeth wrapped a scarf around his neck. I hefted Sienna up so she could stick in his eyes and nose.

We stood and admired our massive snowman, when a snowball sailed high and got me right in the back of the head.

The boys muffled their laughs as I turned around. "You threw that?" I demanded.

Tyler and Matthew burst out laughing, pointing at Bobby.

I smirked and started pelting them with snowballs. Annabeth rolled her eyes, but her expression turned deadly serious when I threw one at her, hitting her on the neck.

"You're gonna pay for that, Jackson."

I gestured, like,_ come at me bro._ "Bring it on, Chase."

We pelted each other with huge snowballs, ducking behind cars to protect ourselves. Ty and Sienna hid with me, and a massive snowball fight began.

"Surrender!" Bobby and Matthew cried.

"Never!" Tyler shouted back, throwing a ball right at the spot they had just been.

Our snowball fight went on for almost half an hour, but then the snow fall grew too heavy and we had to go inside.

Annabeth put a movie on for the kids, and the two of us went up to her room.

She had homework to do, so I lay down on the bed and played on my phone for a while.

"You know you can watch the movie if you want to," Annabeth reminded me, glancing sideways. "I mean, not that I don't want you here or anything-"

I smiled. "That ok, the Muppets was never really my favourite."

Annabeth smirked and turned back to her homework. Just as her pen was about to touch the paper, she turned back to look at me.

"Hey Percy, we're friends right?"

I frowned, sitting up. "Of course."

"And I can tell you anything?"

"Why? What happened?"

Annabeth sighed. "It's my mom. She and I have been fighting over everything lately and I just don't know what her problem is."

My frown deepened, hoping that Athena wasn't still arguing with her over the whole 'you're with an older guy without telling me' thing. If I was the cause of all this trouble Annabeth was having with her mom, well, words couldn't describe how guilty I would feel.

"Have you told Thalia?"

She told Thalia everything, so I was surprised when Annabeth shook her head.

"She doesn't really understand that kinda stuff, her mom left when she was only six."

I rubbed the back of my neck. "What is she angry at you for?"

Annabeth rolled her eyes. "Everything. I don't help her around the house, my test results weren't as good as she wanted, blah blah blah."

"Well, that sucks." I said, not sure what to say to comfort her.

"Yeah," Annabeth moved over and sat next to me.

I ran a hand through my hair. "Its not... because of me... is it?"

Annabeth sighed and leaned against my shoulder. "That's part of it...maybe."

"I'm sorry." My heart sunk.

"It's not your fault, Perce. Mom's just over-protective."

Before I could lose my courage, I put my arm around her shoulders. "Look, whenever you need to get away from her, you can always come talk to me, okay?"

Annabeth smiled warmly. "Thanks, Percy. It means a lot."

"No worries, like you said, we're friends."

And deep down, a voice in my head said I wanted to be more than that.

* * *

"So guys," Luke said. "I got us a gig at this really nice place next month. The place is always pretty packed, its a great way to spread the word about our band."

Leo grinned from his control console. "Dude! That's awesome!"

"How do find all these places?" Jason inquired.

Luke shrugged, a smug look on his face.

"Well, that's great and everything," Nico spoke up. "But what songs are we gonna play. We already have two gigs coming up, we're going to run out of songs to play."

"We can discuss that later, we'll just practice for next week, then worry about what song to play." I said, tuning my black guitar.

Luke nodded in agreement, joining me on the 'stage'. Jason took a seat behind his drums and Nico grabbed his bass and slung the strap over his shoulders.

We'd decided a sort of tribute to Three Days Grace for our next gig. They were Jason's favourite band, having heaps of awesome drum solos, and they were a good band, even if their vocals were sometimes a little bit harsher than what I would usually sing.

We practiced for a few hours, until our fingers hurt from pressing on the steel strings and Jason had sore arms from smashing the drums so hard.

"Dude," Leo said, nudging me. "How are things going with Annabeth?" He wiggled his eyebrows suggestively.

I scoffed, hiding my embarrassment. "What are you talking about, Valdez."

"Perce, you _obviously _like her."

I raised my eyebrow as my friends nodded in unison.

"So what?" I shrugged, realizing that arguing with them was useless; they were complete block-heads. "And like you're one to talk, Jason."

"Aw man!" Nico whooped. "Percy has a crush!"

I felt my cheeks grew hot. "Shut up, Nico, I do not."

Luke and Leo laughed.

"Screw you." I muttered, which only made them laugh harder.

"Jason!" His mom, Beryl, called from upstairs. "Dinner's ready!"

"Thanks Mom."

The four of us were staying over for dinner- Beryl made her famous lasagna- and the I drove the others home.

Back at my apartment, Mom and Paul were siting on the couch, watching some cooking show that Paul probably wasn't the least bit interested in.

"Hey," I greeted, walking up the hall to put my guitar in my room.

I went to grab myself a drink, and was surprised to find that Paul had come in behind me. "Oh, hey Paul."

"Percy," He started hesitantly. "There's something I wanted to talk to you about."

My immediate reaction was _uh-oh. _I prayed that they hadn't found out about the few times I had secretly 'burrowed' the car.

"No no," Paul said hurriedly, seeing my expression. "That's not what I meant, just..."

I'd never seen him act this way before. Usually Paul was straight to the point, he didn't hide things from you, but at the moment he seemed beyond uncomfortable. His cheeks were red, and he kept pulling his shirt collar.

"Well, as I'm sure you're aware, Sally and I have known each other for a while, and even though we haven't been dating for long, I um..." He swallowed. "I was wondering if it would be okay with you if I asked her... if I asked her to marry me."

My jaw dropped to the ground. It took a moment to comprehend what he'd said. "You want my permission?"

"Of course," He said. "She's your mother, and I know what you went through with Gabe, so I just thought-"

I cut him off, my shock turning to joy in a spilt second. "Paul, of course you can marry Mom."

Paul beamed. "Thanks Percy, I appreciate it."

Clasping my hand, he pulled me into a hug.

Although it might be weird to have my step-dad as my English teacher, but Paul made Mom happy, and that was really all I wanted.

* * *

**Sorry guys, I'm not really happy with this and I took AGES!**

**But I finally got a new laptop so I can update again! YAY!  
**

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	10. Chapter 10

**Hey guys! :D**

**Thanks for your lovely reviews, and my wonderful friend Moonshroom420 had a suggestion. Would you rather Thaluke, and I'll throw Solangelo in there instead of Thalico? **

**Personally, I'm not a Thalico shipper, but tell me what you guys think. Solangelo or Thalico **

**Hope you guys enjoy :P**

* * *

Piper and I met up at the mall to pick out a dress for some party of her mother's.

Having a supermodel mother and a movie-star father had definite benefits, and we had no budget for this dress; Piper could go all out.

And knowing her, she would. Whereas I kinda hated shopping, Piper practically lived to buy things.

"C'mon Annabeth," Piper said, holding three bags of shoes and useless accessories. "This place has the _best _dresses!"

I reluctantly followed her in, holding my own bag. I had found a cool pair of boots, and Piper had insisted that I could buy them. These were way out of my price range, so Piper had given me some of her money, even though she knew I don't like to take money from people.

"Ooh! This one's nice." She drifted to a rack of dresses and grabbed a pink dress. "Actually, no it isn't."

I rolled my eyes at her. "You can't do that every time you look at one, Piper."

She shrugged, going through the rack.

"How are things with Jason?"

Piper blushed furiously. "OMG, he's so sweet! He got my the prettiest flowers the other day!"

"What for?" I smiled.

"He just said thanks for going out with him; you know we went to the movies, right?" She asked and I nodded. "Yeah, well, he asked if we could meet up some more and gave me flowers."

"Aw Pips!" I cooed. Piper and Jason were the cutest couple ever.

"I know!" She grabbed another dress. "What about this one?"

She'd picked out a light blue strapless dress.

"Yes, try it on!"

We hurried into the change-rooms. Piper shut the door behind her.

When she came out, my jaw dropped.

"Oh my gosh, Piper! You look stunning!"

The dress was quite form-fitting, which looked great on her. It had a straight top-line, and a sash that went around the waist, hugging the dress into Piper's small figure.

Piper'd also put on the white wedges she bought, and they went perfectly with the dress.

"You have to get that dress."

Piper beamed and went back in to take the dress off.

After buying the dress, we went had lunch in the food court.

"So, have you seen Percy lately?" Piper asked, taking a bite of her sushi.

I shrugged. "He came over with the kids the other day, but I haven't talked to him since then."

I couldn't believe I'd told him about Mom. I hadn't wanted to make a big deal about it, after all it was really just a fight, but there was something about him that made me tell him.

When Percy had put his strong arm around me, I felt my heart skip a beat.

Piper smirked. "He came to your house?"

"I go to his house all the time, what's the big deal?"

"Yeah but you're babysitting his brother and sister," Piper pointed out. "You're _supposed _to go to his house. Honestly, I'm surprised your mom didn't catch you."

I frowned. "How did you know about that?"

"Please," Piper rolled her eyes. "I may not be as smart as you, but I know relationship problems when I see them."

I looked down at my McDonald's burger. "I'm not having 'relationship problems' Piper."

"Whatever, but anyway, why was Percy at your house?"

"God Pips," I sighed, "He was just helping me out."

She smiled knowingly in response, which kinda annoyed me. "I know you like him, Annabeth. Don't try to hide it."

"What!" I exclaimed. "I do not! He's my friend."

"You do! And its adorable!" Piper replied. "Seriously, you and Percy are my OTP."

I raised my eyebrow. "Your what?"

Piper shook her head, "Nevermind. Are you going to the Stolls' party? I heard Percy is going." She winked at me in a suggestive manner.

"I don't know, Pips." I said hesitantly. The Stoll brothers were notorious for their wild parties. They were the ultimate prankers, spiking drinks and the like.

They went to school with Percy and Nico, so I didn't personally know them, but anyone who was acquainted with a friend of the Stolls was invented, with never really ended well.

"Come, please. The rest of the girls are going, even Reyna, and you know how strict her mom is."

Reyna's mother, Bellona, was practically an army sergeant. Reyna and her big sister Hylla were expected to be the perfect children, and Bellona tolerated no disobedience whatsoever.

"It's not that I'm not allowed to go, ju-"

Piper cut me off. "Great, than you can come?"

"Fine," I relented after a moment.

* * *

"I can't believe you convinced me to come." I muttered angrily to Piper as we pulled up in front of the Stolls' massive house.

It was already filled to the brim with teens, who knew how of them were drunk.

"Lighten up, Annie." Thalia gave me a nudge.

Rachel, Reyna, Hazel, Piper, Thalia and I got out of Hazel's dad's big 4X4.

Knowing that knocking on the front door was going to be useless, Reyna just walked right in.

Immediately, my eardrums were assaulted by the incredibly loud music, Swing by Savage. Thalia cringed at the 'horrible taste in music'.

We wondered as a group, holding hands so we wouldn't lose each other in the mass of dancing people.

Outside was even worse than inside. Even though it was winter, people were jumping into the pool, probably too drunk to notice how cold it was. There were people waiting at a makeshift, spooning punch, soda or alcohol into their plastic cups. There was rubbish all over the ground, and random boys were going around touching butts.

"Hey! Piper!"

We all turned towards the voice to see Jason and Nico walking towards us. Jason was beaming, but Nico looked just as grumpy as he felt. He obviously didn't want to be here either.

Neither of them had a cup in their hands, which was very smart.

"Jason!" Piper jumped into his arms.

Thalia rolled her eyes. "Get a room! Where are the others."

Nico led us back to Percy, Luke and Leo while Jason and Piper went to dance.

"YO!" Leo whooped, waving his arms in the air. If it was anyone else, you probably would've suspected that he'd had a bit much to drink, but he was just being Leo.

Percy and Luke were dancing too, trying not to spill the contents of their cups.

"Hey Annabeth!" Percy yelled to me over the music as he pulled me over. "It feels like I haven't seen you in ages!"

I stumbled forward as a couple pushed through our group, but Percy grabbed my arms to hold me up.

"Yeah!" I replied. "Sorry I haven't called you or anything."

Percy grinned and waved away my apology. He took a swig from his cup.

"What is that?" I asked.

"Just the punch," He offered it to me. "Wanna try some?"

"Uh, no thanks."

The song changed to Uptown Funk by Mark Ronson and Bruno Mars, and Percy and the boys shouted in excitement.

"Oh, this is our jam!" Luke hooted.

We all danced to the music. "I'm too hot!" Percy yelled, in which the rest of his band returned with, "Hot damn!"

The girls and I laughed, but I noticed that Hazel had disappeared. Looking around for her, I saw her talking to a big Asian-looking guy, blushing furiously.

Percy downed the rest of his punch. "I'm just gonna get some more."

He seemed a lot happier than normal. Like, he was usually a happy guy, but it was kinda creepy how excited he was.

"Dude," Nico protested. "You've had a hundred of those things."

"Its just punch.

As Percy wondered off, Nico and Luke exchanged a worried glance with me. They'd noticed his odd attitude too.

I looked back at Percy walking off as Rachel pulled me off to dance with her and Reyna. Nico had followed Percy, and Thalia had started talking with Luke.

Reyna, Rachel and I danced for ages, and Reyna even punched this boy in the nose when he tried to touch her butt, but he was too drunk to notice his nose was now gushing with blood.

"Omigosh!" She and Rachel had exclaimed, and they'd hurried off to tend to his possibly broken nose.

I went to find the boys again. It had probably been an hour of two since I'd last seen them. I looked at the bar, in the pool, upstairs, the kitchen, but they were no where to be found.

Blinded by the flashing strobe lights, I literally barreled straight into Jason's chest as he turned around.

He and Piper were with the rest of the gang, much to my relief.

"I've been looking for you guys everywhere!" I said. "Where's Percy?"

"We don't know," Luke replied worriedly. "We haven't seen him for almost twenty minutes."

Piper clutched Jason's hand, biting her lip.

"Hey! Nico!" Two new voices yelled. Suddenly two boys had thrown their arms over Nico's shoulders. They both had brown hair and eyes, and were practically identical except that one was taller.

I automatically knew that they were the Stoll brothers.

"Guys, what are you doing?" The shorter one questioned. "Percy's practically unconscious against the side of the house!"

"_What_?!" I fumed.

The tall one scratched his neck. "He's drunk out of his mind."

"He only drank the punch!" Jason protested.

"You guys spicked it!" Thalia accused, about to deck the two boys.

The brothers held up their hands, stepping back from Thalia. "Woah! I swear it wasn't us. Percy's our bro!"

Nico rolled his eyes. "Conner," He warned. "Where is he."

Conner Stoll, the short one, looked at his brother and led us to the house while Travis went to get rid of the alcoholic punch.

Conner and Travis had moved Percy out of the way of the party, slumped up against the wall where the rubbish bins were hidden.

"Oh my god," Leo muttered. "Sally's gonna kill him."

Luke dropped in a crouch in front of friend, lifting his chin to look into his green eyes. They were cloudy, and Percy giggled uncontrollably.

"Yo Luke," He slurred. "Did you know that koalas have fingerprints!"

Percy grinned, obviously pleased with himself for knowing this. The rest of the group looked at me, and I nodded. It was true.

"So..." Piper said. "Drunk Percy is kinda a genius?"

"Like Eintsein!" Percy chipped in, holding up his hand like a small child in class.

Nico groaned when Percy fell forward as he tried to sit up. "I know we shouldn't have let him have so much of that fricken punch."

"Annabeth!" Percy called,starting to look green in the face. "I don't feel well."

We all looked at each other in panic.

"Quick!" Conner cried. "Get him to the bathroom!"

Luke and Jason looped their arms around Percy's torso, heaving him up off the ground. He was able to stumble along with their support, the rest of us plowing through the crowd in front of them, until we got to the stairs.

Percy tried to copy Jason's movement to climb the stairs, but he misjudged the distance and stepped short, almost taking Jason and Luke down with him.

Thinking fast, Leo leaped in front of them and grabbed Percy's ankles, lifting him of his feet. "Ugh! Jesus Christ, you're heavy!"

Percy only giggled in response, looking like he was going to be sick.

Being very careful, Leo went up backwards, helping to carry Percy up to the bathroom.

The boys put Percy down gently onto the tiles, pulling him up on his knees to lean over the toilet bowl.

As if on que, Percy started to throw up.

Cringing, I sat down next to him and rubbed circles on his back.

"That's disgusting," Thalia remarked flatly, turning away.

I looked up at them. "How come you guys weren't drinking it?"

"I just thought it tasted gross." Leo replied, and his friends nodded in agreement.

"It was pretty bad punch, I don't how people managed to drink so much of it," Conner admitted, running a hand through his tousled hair.

I stroked Percy's thick black hair comfortingly as he continued to be sick, gripped the toilet to keep himself from toppling over.

"What are we gonna do with him?" Thalia said. "We can't take him home."

Luke nodded. "His mom would whoop him."

"Rachel's parents are away, we could take him to her place." Piper suggested.

Suddenly, the door burst open, making all of us but Percy just about six feet in the air.

Hazel, Rachel, Reyna and the Asian boy were standing in the doorway. "What happened?"

When they saw Percy vomiting, it pretty much answered their question.

Jason asked Rachel if we could take Percy to her place.

"Of course," She answered. "But I can't look after him alone."

Rachel was right. Three of us had barely managed to carry him, let alone Rachel.

When Percy had finished throwing up, we let him recover a moment before Nico and Conner lifted him up again.

Travis met us at the front door, immediately starting to apologize for getting Perce drunk. Luke ran off to get their van so we wouldn't have to carry Percy all the way over there, and he came back a moment later.

He stopped the car and jumped into the back, opening the side door. We got Percy into the van and while the rest of the girls and Hazel's new friend went in Hazel's car to direct Luke to Rachel's, I stayed with Percy, his head in my lap as I continued to comb my fingers through his hair.

With Luke and Leo in the front seat, and Jason, Nico, Percy and I in the back, we quickly said bye to Conner and Travis and then followed Hazel back to Rachel's place.

Nico took Percy's phone out of his pocket.

"What are you doing?"

Nico typed in Percy's password. "Telling Sally he's staying with us tonight."

I saw him type _hey Mom, we're staying at Rachel's tonight, is that ok? _and press send.

Sally quickly replied, saying it was fine.

Rachel's house was twenty minutes away, depending on the traffic, and by the time we got there Percy was out cold.

"Poor guy," Leo muttered. "He's gonna have the biggest headache tomorrow."

* * *

**Lol Percy got drunk!**

**YAY FRANK! **

**By the way, can you guys do me a huge favour and go check out my new(ish) story. Yes, I know I shouldn't have coz I have to finish A Pirates Life For Me, but whatevs ;P**

**Please R&amp;R :D**


	11. Chapter 11

**Hey guys!**

**To those of you asked me some questions; yes, rubbish and garbage are the same thing, we just call it rubbish here in Australia, and I don't know the song by One Republic, so I'll have a listen and maybe I'll put it in :D**

**Hope you guys enjoy the chapter XD**

* * *

When I woke up the next morning, I had the most painful headache I'd ever had in my life.

Letting out a groan, I started to sit up and found myself in the living room of a house I'd never been to before.

"Perce!" A girl's voice exclaimed, making me wince at the sudden screeching and the ringing in my ears. "You're awake."

"Yeah," I grumbled. "What happened."

The voice belonged to Piper, who explained how the punch I was drinking last night was spiked and that I got drunk and they had to bring me to Rachel's place.

"Oh god, Mom's going to kill me!" I mumbled, rubbing my throbbing temples. "Where are the others?"

"They're in the kitchen getting breakfast. C'mon, we'll get you some Aspirin."

Piper helped me up off the couch and I staggered after her, heading towards an open door frame that led to the kitchen.

The rest of my friends were seated around a table, except for Rachel who was cooking some bacon. "Percy!" They cheered, assaulting my brain with their racket.

"Guys! Stop yelling!" I protested, sitting in one of the spare seats and resting my head on my arms.

"Aw, poor Percy," Nico said with sarcastic sympathy. "I told you not to drink the punch."

"Screw you Nico."

Jason, Leo, Thalia and Reyna snickered. Piper put a glass of water and two Aspirin tablets in front of me. Swallowing the medicine with the water, I closed my eyes and willing the headache to go away.

"Shut up," I grumbled to them all as they started yelling to each other again.

Annabeth frowned. "We aren't shouting Percy."

I spent of my hangover lying on the couch, occasionally yelling at my friends for their excessive noise, though I knew it was just me. I didn't know when I'd be able to go home, I couldn't go back while I was still hungover, and who knew how long that would last.

I would take some more Aspirin every few hours, before falling asleep on the couch, trying to sleep off the headache.

* * *

I hid my hangover from Mom and Paul for an entire week before Luke came to pick me up for a gig.

The four other members of the band still hadn't let the whole thing go, and Luke kept teasing me, saying something about koalas, but I had no idea what he was talking about.

Our Band-Van pulled up at the back of a pub, and two guys came out to help us with Leo and Jason's gear.

We set up on the stage, the people at the bar paying us no attention.

I tuned my electric guitar, humming the lyrics of our songs. Nico practiced some of the harder bass riffs, and there were some pretty cool ones in Three Days Grace songs.

Setting his kit up on stage, Jason lightly played a drum roll, bringing the crowds' gazes to the band. Luke, Nico and I took our places.

"Hey guys! We are Final Evolution!" Luke said, holding his hand out to the crowd.

Speaking into his microphone to drown out the cheering, Jason said, "Today we're gonna do a tribute for you guys. Have any of you heard of Three Days Grace?"

The cheering swelled and Nico introduced the first song.

"This song's called Animal I Have Become."

He started to play his bass, plucking the heavy strings, then Luke started copying the riff and I started playing the chords on distortion when Jason smacked the drums.

_I can't escape this hell_  
_So many times i've tried_  
_But i'm still caged inside_  
_Somebody get me through this nightmare_  
_I can't control myself_

Pelting out the music in full volume, we played the chorus.

_So what if you can see the darkest side of me?_  
_No one will ever change this animal I have become_  
_Help me believe it's not the real me_  
_Somebody help me tame this animal_  
_(This animal, this animal)_

_I can't escape myself_  
_(I can't escape myself)_  
_So many times i've lied_  
_(So many times i've lied)_  
_But there's still rage inside_  
_Somebody get me through this nightmare_  
_I can't control myself_

_So what if you can see the darkest side of me?_  
_No one will ever change this animal I have become_  
_Help me believe it's not the real me_  
_Somebody help me tame this animal I have become_  
_Help me believe it's not the real me_  
_Somebody help me tame this animal_

_Somebody help me through this nightmare_  
_I can't control myself_  
_Somebody wake me from this nightmare_  
_I can't escape this hell_

Jason and Nico whispered the words into their microphones.

_(This animal, this animal, this animal, this animal, this animal, this animal, this animal)_

All the music stopped except for the slightly muted sound of Luke's guitar.

_So what if you can see the darkest side of me?_  
_No one will ever change this animal I have become_

Jason bought the beat back in and we played the final chorus.

_Help me believe it's not the real me_  
_Somebody help me tame this animal I have become  
__Help me believe it's not the real me  
__Somebody help me tame this animal  
__(This animal I have become)_

I played the outro as the song came to a close and the people in the crowd cheered.

It amazed me how many people actually wanted to see us play, and how many other people Luke managed to bring with our band's Facebook page. The guy was a marketing genius.

"This next song is called Burn, hope you guys enjoy!"

Jason and Luke started the song, and then Nico and I joined in, the three of us playing heavy chords and Jason smacking the cymbals.

_I'll tell you now you can't win this_  
_You're way too slow_  
_I'll tell you now I'm gonna take this_  
_Did you come here to watch me, watch me burn?_

_I'll let it show that I'm not always hiding_  
_Come all the way down_  
_And watch me burn_  
_I won't let it show that I'm not always flying_  
_So on the way down_  
_I'll watch you burn_

_So let me know just how to take this_  
_You're way to cold_  
_Now show me how before it breaks me_  
_Did you come here to watch me, watch me burn?_

_I'll let it show that I'm not always hiding_  
_Come all the way down_  
_And watch me burn_  
_I won't let it show that I'm not always flying_  
_So on the way down_  
_I'll watch you burn_

We replayed the chords from the start, and then I started to play the solo.

_No, oh_

_I'll let it show that I'm not always hiding_  
_Come all the way down_  
_And watch me burn_  
_I won't let it show that I'm not always flying_  
_So on the way down_  
_I'll watch you burn_

We played the outro, and when the song stopped the spectators shouted and whistled in excitement.

Nico introduced the next song while I took a drink from my water-bottle.

"This song is called Break!"

Jason started with the beat, and then Nico and I came in with the loud chords and Luke played a small riff.

_Tonight, my head is spinning  
__I need something to pick me up  
__I've tried but nothing is working  
__I won't stop  
__I won't say I've had enough  
__Tonight, I start the fire  
__Tonight, I break away_

_Break away from everybody  
__Break away from everything  
__If you can't stand the way  
__This place is  
__Take yourself to higher places_

_(ohhh, ohhh)_

_At night I feel like a vampire  
__It's not right  
__I just can't give it up  
__I'll try to get myself higher  
__Let's go  
__We're going to light it up  
__Tonight we start the fire  
__Tonight we break away_

_Break away from everybody  
__Break away from everything  
__If you can't stand the way  
__This place is  
__Take yourself to higher places_

Luke continued with the chords and I played the solo.

_If you_ _can't stand the way this place is  
__Take (take) yourself (yourself)  
__To higher places_

_Break away from everybody  
__Break away from everything  
__If you can't stand the way  
__This place is  
__Take yourself to higher places_

_(ohh…higher places)  
__(ohh…to higher places)  
__(ohh…higher places)  
__Take yourself to higher places_

**A/N: by the way, anything that's underlined in the songs is sung by Jason, Nico and Luke, for future reference :D**

I introduced our next song, No More, and started playing the opening riff, and Jason joined after I played it twice. Then Luke and Nico came in and I started singing the lyrics.

_Give me a reason_  
_To stay here_  
_Cause I_  
_Don't want_  
_To live in fear_

_I can't stop t__he rain_  
_But I can stop t__he tears_  
_I can fight t__he fire_  
_But I can't fight_  
_The fear_

_No more_  
_I just can't_  
_Live here_  
_No more_  
_I can't take it_  
_Can't take it_  
_No more_  
_What do we_  
_Stand for_  
_When we all_  
_Live in fear?_

_Give me a reason_  
_To believe_  
_Cause you don't_  
_Wanna see me leave_

_I can't stop_  
_The rain_  
_But I can stop_  
_The tears_  
_Oh, I can fight_  
_The fire_  
_But I can't fight_  
_The fear_

_No more_  
_I just can't_  
_Live here_  
_No more_  
_I can't take it_  
_Can't take it_  
_No more_  
_What do we_  
_Stand for_  
_When we all_  
_Live in fear?_

I played the chords and Luke started the solo.

_No more_  
_I just can't_  
_Live here_  
_No more_  
_I can't take it_  
_Can't take it_  
_No more_  
_What do we_  
_Stand for_  
_When we all_  
_Live in fear?_

I finished the song by playing the starting riff again,and the people in the pub clapped.

We had a break before playing the last songs, heading back stage to refresh and get something to eat.

"Guys!" Leo cried in excitement. "You sounded AWESOME!"

I downed the rest of the water in my bottle, relenting when he insisted on giving me a high five. Leo tended to get very excited during our gigs.

Our break went for half an hour, and then we went back on stage.

"Hey guys, we're back!" I called, earning a cheer from the people finishing their meals.

Jason tapped a drum roll. "The next song is called Bitter Taste!"

He smashed the cymbals twice, and then I started the lead guitar. The rest of the band joined in.

_Just let me say one thing_  
_I've had enough_  
_You're selfish and sorry_  
_You'll never learn_  
_How to love_  
_As your world disassembles_  
_Better keep your head up_

_Your name,_  
_Your face is_  
_All you have left now_  
_Betrayed, disgraced_  
_You've been erased_

_So long, so long_  
_I have erased you_  
_So long, so long_  
_I've wanted to waste you_  
_So long, so long_  
_I have erased you_  
_I have escaped_  
_The bitter taste of you_

Jason played a small drum solo between the verses.

_Just let me clear my head_  
_I think I've had too much_  
_You're so disappointing_  
_But you make good use of it_

_As your world disassembles_  
_Better keep your head up_

_Your name,_  
_Your face is_  
_All you have left now_  
_Betrayed, disgraced_  
_You've been erased_

_So long, so long_  
_I have erased you_  
_So long, so long_  
_I've wanted to waste you_  
_So long, so long_  
_I have erased you_  
_I have escaped_  
_The bitter taste of_ you

I played the awesome the awesome guitar solo, then Luke played softly in the pre-chorus.

Your_ name,_  
_Your face is_  
_All you have left now_  
_Disgraced, betrayed_  
_You've been erased_

_So long, so long_  
_I have erased you_  
_So long, so long_  
_I've wanted to waste you_  
_So long, so long_  
_I have erased you_  
_I have escaped_  
_The bitter taste ..._  
_I have escaped_  
_The bitter taste of you_

Jason and Luke played a solo, and then the song came to a close.

Luke introduced our last song. "The last song we're gonna play for you guys today is Riot!"

The crowd cheered as he started playing the super-fast main riff and Jason hit the beat. After a few times, Nico and I started the chords.

_If you feel so empty_  
_So used up, so let down_  
_If you feel so angry_  
_So ripped off so stepped on_  
_You're not the only one_  
_Refusing to back down_  
_You're not the only one_  
_So get up_

_Let's start a riot, a riot_  
_Let's start a riot_  
_Let's start a riot, a riot_  
_Let's start a riot_

_If you feel so filthy_  
_So dirty so fucked up_  
_If you feel so walked on_  
_So painful so pissed off_  
_You're not the only one_  
_Refusing to go down_  
_You're not the only one_  
_So get up_

_Let's start a riot, a riot_  
_Let's start a riot_  
_Let's start a riot, a riot_  
_Let's start a riot_

We played the small instrumental.

_If you feel so empty_  
_So used up, so let down_  
_If you feel so angry_  
_Just get up_

Leo distorted the guitars, and I spoke the next words, before heading back into the chorus full volume.

_Let's start a riot, a riot_  
_Let's start a riot_

_Let's start a riot, a riot_  
_Let's start a riot_

_Let's start a riot, a riot_  
_Let's start a riot_  
_Let's start a riot, a riot_  
_Let's start a riot_

_Let's start a riot, a riot_  
_Let's start a riot_

The crowd yelled and whistled as our gig finished, and we waved to them before heading off stage.

Leo was predictably freaking out when we got there, already starting to unplug all his electronics. I put my guitar in its hard case, and helped Jason carry the drum set into the back of the van as Luke reversed into the garage where the pub kept all its alcohol and stuff.

"Nice going guys!" Luke grinned, jumping out of the drivers set to help Leo and Nico.

The pub manager paid us, handing the wad of cash to me.

We loaded into the band van, Leo whooped enthusiastically at our success.

* * *

**Eh, endings are bad :/ **

**Three Days Grace! So many songs I wanted to put into this chapter, sorry I didn't put I Hate Everything About You in **

**Please R&amp;R! xD**


	12. Chapter 12

**Hey guys! **

**Sorry for the lack of Percabeth in the last chapter, but I will make it up to you! And sorry to those of you who weren't happy with chapter 10 ;D**

**Hope you enjoy this chapter! xD**

* * *

"Hey Annabeth!" Sally greeted me with a bright smile when she answered the door. "It feels like its been forever since I last saw you."

She gave me a hug, which I returned, and led me inside. She and Paul had been extremely busy organizing their wedding. They'd been engaged for a few months now, and Sally was still searching for the right dress.

They'd invited me and the rest of the group to come, asking me to be a flower-girl with Sienna, and words couldn't express how excited I was.

Tyler and Sienna were playing in the living room, she told me, and Percy was in his room trying to study. His final exams were coming up, and Sally said he'd wanted to be as prepared as he could. He might not be able to afford college, but he still wanted a decent grade.

When Sally left to go out with her girlfriends, I sat with the kids in the living room, playing with them for a little while before I heard an angry yell and a loud thud. Ty and Sienna jumped, and we all turned to the direction of Percy's room.

I told the kids to carry on with their game and went to check on him.

"Perce?" I called knocking on his door hesitantly. I'd never actually been in his room, I realized suddenly.

"Yeah."

I entered the room to find him sitting at his desk with his head on his arms. His textbook was flung across the room. Which was incredibly messy.

His large bed was unmade, the floor was littered with dirty clothes and there was an ancient looking sandwich sitting on the bedside table. The bedroom walls were covered with band posters of Three Days Grace, Breaking Benjamin, Imagine Dragons, You Me At Six, Bring Me The Horizon and Linkin Park.

One corner of his room was taken up by Percy's guitars. Three were electric, and he also had two beautiful acoustics. His huge stereo and amp system took up the rest of the wall.

Really, it was your stereotypical teenage boy's room.

I went over and sat on the desk. "Are you ok?"

Percy groaned and looked up, putting his chin on his forearms. "I hate exams."

I grinned slightly. "What's wrong with them?"

"Besides the obvious?" Percy said sarcastically. He hesitated for a moment before mumbling almost incoherently, "I have dyslexia."

He looked back down again.

"So do I, Percy."

"Don't be ridiculous," He scoffed in response. "You're a genius."

I retrieved his textbook from its spot on the floor and placed in front of him. "It's all about finding a learning strategy. Come on, I'll help you."

Percy looked incredibly reluctant, but he sit back and let me show him my strategy. He protested that he'd been to dozens of learning specialist with no luck, but I replied by saying that none of them were actually dyslexic as well.

Nearing the end of my explanation, I saw Percy's expression turn from desperation to understanding and he leaned forward a bit.

"Get it?" I asked, and he nodded slowly.

"I think so," He turned to me with his beautiful green eyes. "Thanks."

I smiled at him, giving in to the urge to reach out a ruffle his hair. "No problem."

Percy flashed that amazing lop-sided smile, and I was about to get up to go check the kids when there was a massive clap of thunder and rain started pounding on the roof.

Percy groaned. "Oh great."

As if on cue, his sister raced into the room. "Percy! Storm!"

"Yeah, I know." He said, pushing his chair back to let Sienna crawl into his lip. He looked up at me, "She's scared of thunder."

Another clap made the girl yelp and she buried her face into her big brother's shirt.

Carrying Sienna, Percy and I went back to the living room where Tyler was still playing. "You right buddy?"

Ty nodded, hoping onto the big couch next to me and Percy.

The storm was big, and seemed to right on top of us. Only moments before each thunder clap, I could see lightning fork across the night sky.

Every now and then, the lights would flicker, and after ten minutes, the power went out.

Sienna shrieked, latching onto me blindly. "Percy!"

"I'm right here." His voice came from his place on my left.

The poor girl, I remember how scared I was to be of the dark.

"Hey, you stay here with Ty ok? Annabeth and I are going to go find some lights."

Sienna whimpered in scared protest, but released me and I stood up.

Unable to see, I took a hesitant step forward.

Crashing into Percy's much bigger form, I probably would've fallen if he didn't reach out to grab my arm. "Watch out," He said.

"Sorry."

Still holding my arm, we felt around in the darkness, looking for the kitchen. In the small amount of light given by the lightning, Percy ransacked the room, searching the drawers for a flashlight.

"Damn! I could've sworn it was in here."

"Do you have any candles?"

Percy thought for a moment. He grabbed what I guess were matches from one of the draws and started to steer me through the house.

We went into the laundry, Percy found the candles and started to strike a match.

"What now?" I asked when he managed to light the wick.

I stepped forward to light some more, and stupidly managed to slip on the tile in my socks.

I bumped into Percy again, but this time he wasn't quick enough to stop me from falling. We both crashed to the floor with a yelp, becoming a tangle of limbs. I found myself lying on Percy's chest, rising and falling with his breaths.

He had an arm wrapped around my waist, and our faces were only inches apart.

Even in the dim light of the candle, his sea-green eyes shone.

"Oh, um... uh... sorry," I blushed scarlett and started to push myself off him.

He sputtered for a moment. "My bad."

I held my hand to help him up, and brushed invisible dust from my clothes, already missing the feeling of his arm around me.

"We um," He coughed awkwardly. "We should get back to the kids."

I nodded in agreement, lighting another candle and following him back to the living room.

* * *

"Oh my gosh, Thals! It was so _embarrassing!" _I gushed into my phone. "Ugh, I'm such a freakin' klutz!"

When the storm had cleared off at about 10pm, Percy and I put the kids to bed and I decided to go home. Though Percy acted like it didn't matter, like it was forgotten, I still felt like a complete and utter idiot.

"What happened?" Thalia asked.

"Well, there was that storm and the power went out, and Sienna's scared of the dark, so Perce and I went to get some candles and we were in the laundry and I slipped over, oh my god, Thalia I _fell on top _of him!"

I heard a strange noise on the other end of the line, and knew immediately that it was Thalia trying to stifle her laugh. Emphasis on 'trying'.

"Aww Annabeth! You are such a hopeless case."

I flopped down onto my bed and burrowed my face into the pillow. "Don't even get me started."

"What did he do?"

"He acted like a guy, brushed it off and said it was ok and that it was no big deal. He probably thinks I'm the clumsiest person to ever walk the planet!"

"Why do you care what he thinks?"

"Why do I care?!" I repeated. "Thalia, I. Fell. On. Him! In a laundry. In the dark! At his house!"

This time Thalia didn't bother muffling her laughter. "I'm sorry, its just funny because you're acting like it was such a disaster."

"It _was _a disaster!" I exclaimed.

"No it wasn't! You got to lay on top of him, and he put his arm around you. When you're with a hot guy, how is that a disaster."

I cringed. "Do you manage to make everything sound really dirty?"

"It's a gift." I could practically see her smug expression.

Rolling my eyes, I said, "Whatever, I gotta go."

"Bye Annie," Thalia replied, quickly hanging up after calling me 'Annie'.

* * *

At school the next day, all my friends knew about the laundry incident because of Thalia, including Leo and Jason who got incredibly wicked looks on their faces. They were probably scheming a thousand ways to embarrass me about it.

Predictably, Piper and Hazel thought it was sweet that Percy had 'taken the fall instead of landing on top of _me_'.

I was called up to the main office to help show the new girl around the school.

She was a Junior and had transferred from a school in California. She was really pretty, like Piper, but with cinnamon coloured hair, dark almond shaped eyes, and very delicate facial features.

"Annabeth!" The office lady said as I entered. "This is Calypso."

The girl turned to me with a bright smile. "Hi."

I smiled back. Calypso seemed like a nice girl.

"Annabeth will be showing you around, her and most of her friends are very good students here at Goode, I'm sure you'll have an excellent time with them." The office lady introduced her to me, giving Calypso her timetable.

"Yeah, most of them." I agreed, thinking of Thalia's slacking ways.

After thanking the office lady, Calypso and I headed to her locker. The others met us there, and Leo immediately converted to 'flirt mode'.

"Hey Beautiful," He wiggled his eyebrows, making Reyna roll her eyes and give him a shove, indicating for him to back off.

Calypso blushed. "Hey, I'm Calypso, but I guess you can call me Callie."

"Callie," Leo said thoughtfully. "I like that."

I shook my head at him. "Don't mind Leo," I said to Callie. "He's a dork."

"So, whataya have first?" Jason asked.

Calypso looked at her timetable. "Uh... Forensic science."

"Me too!" Hazel smiled, and the two got Callie's books and headed off to class.

I had English with Mr Blofis, and he smiled and thanked me for looking after the kids the other night.

At lunch, Calypso sat with us, and Leo tried every pick up line imaginable!

"If you were a triangle, you'd be an acute."

Then Thalia would punch him in the arm. Hard.

I was hoping that having Calypso around would distract the others from the laundry incident, but unfortunately, Jason wasn't that stupid.

He smirked as he looked at me. "So, Annabeth, I heard to got a bit of action the other night."

My friends snickered as my cheeks grew hot. "I did not! It was an accident!"

Thalia and Jason burst out laughing.

"I swear I didn't mean it! It was dark and I couldn't see!"

Calypso looked beyond confused. "Um...what?"

Piper giggled and explained what happened. "Annabeth and Percy are so cute."

"Will you guys stop! We're friends."

Rachel smiled, and Leo showed Callie a picture of Percy.

"Annabeth, he's cute. Why don't you go out with him?"

"Because!" I sputtered. "I don't like him that way."

The girls looked at me knowingly.

"Whatever, do any of you guys do photography?" Leo asked.

I nodded, "Yeah, Thals, Reyna and I do. Why?"

Jason suddenly grinned. "Well, you know how we wanted to try and catch a producer? Yeah, so Luke thought we should give YouTube a go."

"We're going to make a music video, see if we can attract some more fans and stuff." Leo added, his grin matching Jason's.

Reyna looked excited. "Guys, that's amazing! I'd love to help."

"Me too," Thalia said.

It was a good idea. Heaps of people already went to their gigs, and posting videos could get them a worldwide fan-base.

"Are you guys in a band?" Calypso asked, and Leo smiled proudly.

"Yes we are. Percy's in it to, and these other guys called Nico and Luke."

"That's cool, what kind of music do you play?"

And that launched into Leo's massive explanation, exaggerating everything he did to try and impress her.

She raised an eyebrow at him, and I knew that she was going to fit in great.

* * *

**Ta-da!**

**CALEO! **

**So, this means Thalia is going to Jason's place. Where her mum lives. Oh-oh :O**

**Please R&amp;R**


	13. Chapter 13

**Hey guys! **

**Thanks for you reviews! :D**

**Hope you enjoy**

* * *

The boys and I had decided to film our video on the weekend.

Luke wanted to do an original, but we had agreed that people were more likely to watch a video to a song they already knew and liked.

Annabeth, Reyna and Thalia had offered to help make the video, which was absolutely amazing, and Piper was coming alone too. She claimed that it was because she could be our stylist, but I think she just wanted to be with Jason.

I was driving to pick up Annabeth and Piper on my way to the Grace's, and they were waiting for me when I got to Annabeth's place.

"Hey Perce!" Piper smiled, sliding into the back seat while Annabeth got in the passenger seat next to me. She said hello to me, but I could tell she was still embarrassed about what happened last time she was at my place.

"Annabeth, I told you not to worry about it." I said, giving her a light shove and turning back onto the road. "To be honest, it was actually really funny."

Piper laughed, and Annabeth smiled.

Trying to save Annabeth the embarrassment, I changed the subject. "So, Pipes, what exactly do you plan to do to us? No makeup, right?"

"Of course not, but I could try to do something with your hair."

Annabeth scoffed. "Good luck, Piper."

"What's wrong with my hair?" I pouted, though I knew full well that it was an untamable mess.

We pulled up at Jason's place and I got my black ESP out of the back. Normally, when I came to Jason's to practice I just used my old Fender, but this was for a music video. **A:N/ So jealous of you Percy! I want an ESP!**

We went straight to the garage, and everyone was here except for Luke, Thalia and Reyna, who had the cameras and stuff.

Jason had his best kit set up, and Nico had his Redwood bass.

I plugged my guitar into one of the amps, starting to practice the main riff to Dance With The Devil by Breaking Benjamin.

The others arrived ten minutes later, and the girls went around setting up tripods around the band, while Annabeth and Piper hung up huge black sheets to act as a backdrop and to cover everything else in the garage.

Leo set up the audio, adjusting the volume on the amps and turning Luke's guitar to distortion.

Thalia and Reyna focused one camera on the entire band, and then one on each of us. The cameras were angled to give a view on the instruments, especially with Jason, where his was set behind and to the right of him.

Piper straightened our clothes, played with out hair and adjusted the lights to give us a flattering view, and then stepped back when she was satisfied.

When Reyna gave the signal and the cameras started filming, I played the main riff.

_Here I stand, helpless and left for dead._

The boys joined in with the beat, and then Luke eased back into the riff as I sang.

_Close your eyes, so many days go by._  
_Easy to find what's wrong, harder to find what's right._

_I believe in you, I can show you that I can see right through all your empty lies._  
_I won't stay long, in this world so wrong._

_Say goodbye, as we dance with the devil tonight._  
_Don't you dare look at him in the eye, _

_As we dance with the devil tonight._

_Trembling, crawling across my skin._  
_Feeling your cold dead eyes, stealing the life of mine._

_I believe in you, I can show you that I can see right through all your empty lies._  
_I won't last long, in this world so wrong._

_Say goodbye, as we dance with the devil tonight._  
_Don't you dare look at him in the eye,_

_As we dance with the devil tonight._

_Hold on. Hold on._

Luke played the solo, covered by Jason's drums.

_Say goodbye, as we dance with the devil tonight._  
_Don't you dare look at him in the eye,_

_As we dance with the devil tonight._

_Hold on. Hold on._

_Goodbye._

When the song finished and the cameras stopped rolling, Leo and the girls clapped and cheered in excitement.

Reyna and Thalia jumped forward to transfer the videos to Jason's laptop, and Annabeth came over to me.

"Good job, Perce!"

I smiled at her. "Thanks for the help."

Annabeth grinned back at me and we joined the others at desk. I looked over Annabeth's shoulder as Reyna edited the video, cutting through the footage and putting it all together.

"Woah," Nico muttered when we watched the video.

Reyna grinned proudly. "Ta da!"

She started to download it to our band's YouTube channel, at the same time Luke wrote a status informing our followers to check out the video.

"How many views do ya reckon we're gonna get?" Leo said, coiling up his electrical chords.

Thalia leaned on the table. "I guess it depends if all your followers watch it."

I was putting my guitar back in its hard-case when Ms Grace came in with lemonade for us.

She was smiling, but her face gained a shocked expression when her eyes fell on Thalia.

The tray of glasses crashed to the ground and Jason jumped up to help his mother, who staggered back.

"Mom!"

Thalia straightened with a confused frown.

"Thalia?" Beryl's voice shook and she stepped forward.

Thalia's eyes flickered worriedly to each of us, before meeting with Beryl's almost identical blue ones.

"Um... how do you know me?"

None of the girl's had met Jason's mom but Piper.

Annabeth tensed next to me, shuffling a little bit closer.

"You wouldn't remember me but..." Beryl hesitated. "A mother doesn't forget."

Jason and Thalia paled. Piper grabbed her boyfriend's hand, Leo just about dropped his stuff.

"_What?_" Thalia whispered. "Mom?"

Beside me, I heard Annabeth gasp. I'd known that Jason's dad had left with his older sister when he was two, but surely they couldn't have been attending the same school this entire time without knowing each other.

Beryl hung her head as Thalia fled the room.

Annabeth followed, dragging me with her.

She wasn't on the Grace's property, and we found her on the sidewalk.

"Thals?" Annabeth asked, and her best friend turned around and collapsed into her arms.

After standing there awkwardly for a moment, I wrapped them both in my arms and joined the hug. It was strange seeing Thalia cry.

We stood there for almost five minutes before Thalia pulled away, wiping her eyes. "I can't believe Jason's my brother."

My eyes suddenly widened. "Does that mean you're my _cousin_?"

"Oh my god." Thalia cringed, and Annabeth laughed.

"And Nico too." She added.

Thalia looked horrified.

* * *

We went back in to the garage and Thalia ran and hugged her newly found mother.

At first Beryl was surprised, but she quickly returned her daughter's embrace.

Annabeth elbowed me in the ribs. "That was incredibly awkward for you, wasn't it?"

"I don't usually hug girls, except for my mom and Sienna."

She smiled, "What a ladies' man."

I rolled my eyes, glancing down at her. "Shut up."

She smirked in response.

"Hey guys!" Leo suddenly shouted, looking up from his phone. "We got comments!"

We all rushed to the computer, Beryl included, and looked at the comments section.

"'_Omg, they are so HOT'," _Piper read.

I blushed and Annabeth continued to read.

"'_Ikr! My ovaries!'_"

The girls burst out laughing as the boys and I continued to grow red.

Seeing my expression, Annabeth cooed. "Aw, are you embarrassed Perce?"

"No," I mumbled.

We were aware that girls found us attractive from previous comments on our Facebook page, but that kinda just took it too far.

"Shall we keep reading?" Reyna teased.

"Uh, no," Nico insisted. "I think we get it."

The girl snickered again, and Annabeth put her arm around my shoulders and laughed.

The video had 50 likes already, and people were still viewing it.

Beryl invited us to stay longer, since it was late afternoon anyway, and we went upstairs to the living room.

"Alright, Hunger Games or Transformers?" Jason held up the two movies in questions.

"Hunger Games," Annabeth said, at the same time I said, "Transformers."

I sat down on the floor (Thalia and Luke were hogging the couch with their feet), leaning my head against the front of the arm-rest.

I was outvoted on the movie thing, and we ended up watching the Hunger Games.

Half way through the movie, I put my hand on the floor, accidentally putting it on top of Annabeth's.

She jumped, and I thought that she would pull away, but she just nudged me in the ribs with her elbow and leaned on my shoulder.

By the time the movie had finished, Annabeth was asleep. Luckily, she didn't drool in her sleep like I did.

I was taking her home too, and we were in the car on the way to her place when Annabeth spoke.

"Hey Perce?" Her voice was hesitant.

"Yeah?"

She chewed her lip nervously. "You know how I told you about Mom?"

I remember what she had said about Athena being on her case all the time, and nodded.

"Well, she's been a real pain lately, and I was wondering if I could stay the night at your place? I mean, usually I'd go to Thalia's or something, but with her meeting her mom and stuff, and you're the only one who knows-"

I grinned. "It's fine, Annabeth. Of course you can stay, Mom and Paul'll happy to have you over."

Annabeth nodded with a shy smile.

I was glad that she trusted me enough to tell about her problem with Athena. We'd become closer friends than I ever would've imagined.

She put the radio on and we drove past her house. I pulled into the apartment garage and led Annabeth upstairs, careful not to knock my guitar on the walls.

"Hey Annabeth, what are you doing here?" Mom asked cheerfully from the kitchen as we came into the apartment.

She was starting to dish out dinner, and Paul was helping her with the cutlery while the kids waited at the table.

"Is there enough for one extra?" I asked, and Paul got another bowl out of the cupboard.

Annabeth thanked them and took some of the bowls to the table. Paul followed me into the hall when I went to put my guitar away and he put his hand on my shoulder. "Percy?"

"She's having some trouble with her mom, she can stay the night right?" I tried not to use the pleading eyes.

Paul looked concerned. "Yeah, absolutely. Let her parents know where she is though, ok?"

I nodded, and he walked back into the kitchen.

After dinner, Annabeth and I did the dishes and then headed into my bedroom.

She texted her dad to tell him where she was, and then lay down next to me. "I can't believe her sometimes."

"What has she been saying?"

Annabeth rolled her eyes. "She's just always trying to control my life. Like, I love her, and we never used to fight, but she just needs to understand that she can't make me live the life she wanted, you know?"

I nodded. "Yeah, but she means well. At least she tried."

I saw her glance at me, and somehow I got the feeling she knew what I was talking about. "Do you hate your dad. For leaving you?"

"I don't know." I whispered. "More for leaving Mom than me, I mean, if he had stayed, she wouldn't have married Gabe. Well, then Ty and Sienna mightn't have been born, but Dad left her with a newborn son and hardly any money. And I can bet I wasn't the easiest kid to raise."

Annabeth let out a short laugh. "I can understand that."

I let myself smile a little bit.

"I'm sure he'd be proud of you though, he was a music producer wasn't he?"

"Yeah," I replied. "I think Mom said he worked at Olympic Records."

Annabeth whistled. "Woah, those guys are huge! Maybe he'll get you a record deal."

_That would be the only thing he'd done for me as a father, _I thought bitterly. Maybe I did hate my dad.

Annabeth turned onto her stomach and propped herself up on her elbows to look down at me. "Thanks for letting me stay."

"No problem." I said, and she met my eyes. Green to grey.

She reached out with a smirk and ruffled my hair like she did when she helped me with my dyslexia and I chuckled.

"You realize my hair's messy enough without you doing that."

Annabeth's smirk broadened.

"Do you need something to wear for the night?" I asked, because I suspected that skinny jeans wouldn't be very comfortable to sleep in.

She nodded, and I got up and grabbed her some clothes that wouldn't be too big. Thanking me, Annabeth went to change into the sweatpants and T-shirt.

She came back with the sleeves of my old Green Day shirt reaching her elbows and the pants were way too long, but she still made it look good.

"You can sleep in here, I'll take the couch," I said, grabbing my things and closing the door before she could protest.

I had a quick shower and changed into my pyjamas-which were just grey sweatpants and a white shirt. Mom, Paul and the kids were already asleep, and I quietly took a blanket from the cupboard and lay down on the large couch.

* * *

**Aww, Percy's so sweet! **

**Lol, my ovaries! That is actually so accurate though, that is _exactly _what I would say if I met those guys! xD**

**Hope you guys enjoyed the Percabeth! Starting to get intense (haha, not really) **

**Please R&amp;R, we're nearly at 200! :O OMIGOSH!**


	14. Chapter 14

**Hey guys! **

**Glad you liked the last chapter, I promise there is loads more Percabeth to come ;D**

**Hope you enjoy!**

* * *

The first thing I noticed when I woke up was that everything smelled strange, and yet familiar.

When I found out where I was, I realised that everything smelled like Percy.

The bed sheets and the clothes I was wearing all had the same sea breeze smell that belonged to him. I curled up deeper into the heavy sheets, suddenly knowing why Percy never wanted to get out of bed.

Breathing in the scent of the ocean, I closed my eyes against the sunlight. I didn't want to go home, Mom would be furious, Dad at least would have a billion questions to ask, and the twins would pester and annoy me as usual.

All I wanted to do right now was lay in bed.

I could already hear Sienna and Tyler running around in their bedroom next door, but it didn't seem like anyone else was awake yet. I looked over at Percy's alarm clock and saw that it was only just past seven o'clock.

With a groan, I rolled onto my back and rubbed the sleep out of my eyes. No way would I be able to get back to sleep now.

I threw the covers off my legs and made my way to the living room.

Percy was laying on the couch on his stomach, his head tilted to the side on a pillow.

The apartment had started to feel almost like second home after spending so much time here, and Sally always told me I could help myself, so I poured myself a small glass of orange juice.

I downed it in almost one go, then rinsed out the glass.

_What am I going to do with myself? _I wondered.

Sitting in one of the beanbags on the floor, I let out a breath. Should I try to wake Percy up? That was pretty much a lost cause.

"Morning Annabeth," A groggy voice said behind me, and I turned to see Percy shielding his tired eyes from the sun. So much for being a lost cause.

"You're up early." I stated, and Percy groaned and sat up, moving over so I could sit with him on the couch.

"Yeah, don't get used to it."

I smiled.

Percy's hair was all over the place, and I stifled a laugh. It was sticking up in every possible direction. Seeing my expression, Percy rolled his eyes at me and tried to pat it down. "Ha ha."

Somewhat satisfied with his hair, he picked up the remote and turned the TV on, turning down the volume so he wouldn't wake Sally and Paul.

"So," He turned back towards me, resting his arm on the head of the couch. "What are we doing today?"

"What do you mean?"

"Well, you won't want to be going back to your place too soon, you know, your parents are sure to be mad at you."

I frowned in confusion. "Then wouldn't I want to go back as soon as possible?"

Percy smiled. "Yeah, or you go back so late they don't have as much time to be mad."

Starting to see his point, however unclear, I nodded slightly. If I went back after dinner, I would be going to bed soon after that, whereas if I went back now, Mom would have all day to yell at me.

"This 'breaking-the-rules' thing is quite new to you, isn't it?" Percy smirked mischievously.

"Shut up, Jackson." I gave him a light push.

"Ok then, what are we going to do?"

I felt myself start to smile back him. "Do you wanna go to the park?"

"To the park it is," He flashed a lop-sided grin. "After Mom makes breakfast."

I laughed. "Of course, can't miss out on breakfast."

We watched MTV for almost an hour before Sally and Paul woke up. "Morning," They greeted.

Percy and I replied in unison, moving to sit with Paul at the table while Sally put on the kettle.

"Do you have coffee, Annabeth?"

"Um, yes please."

Sally smiled, getting four mugs out. After making the coffee, she sat down with us, handing each of us a mug.

"Thanks Mom," Percy grinned.

Paul sipped his drink. "So, what are you doing today, Annabeth?"

"Um, Percy and I were going to go to the park."

"I see, you aren't going home?"

I felt my cheeks flush. "I'd rather not at the moment."

Paul nodded, getting the hint and dropping the subject. Sally made breakfast when Tyler and Sienna came out of their room.

We helped do the dishes, then I went and got changed back into my clothes. I didn't really want to change, Percy's clothes were comfy and warm, but I couldn't go out in them because they were way too big.

Percy came in when I told him I was ready. He saw me still holding his clothes, wondering what to do with them.

"You can keep that shirt if you want, its too small for me."

I raised an eyebrow. How was it too small, it was huge on me. "Thanks."

Thalia had always begged me to get a Green Day shirt.

Folding the sweatpants and putting them on the bed, I noticed Percy taking off his singlet as he turned to his closet.

Blushing at the sight of his muscled back, I hurried out of the room, heading to the bathroom to fix my hair.

When I went back into the living room, Percy was waiting and we said goodbye to his mom and Paul, then headed out the front door.

We took the same route as the day when we'd gone with Ty and Sienna, but now it was just the two of us, and Percy wasn't going to get the chance to embarrass me on his skateboard again.

"So," I said as we started walking down the hill. "Did you pass that test?"

Percy rubbed his neck. "Yeah... I didn't exactly get a great mark, but I passed. Thanks to you."

I smiled up at him. "Good job, I'm proud of you."

"Isn't much to be proud of, but at least I didn't fail. It probably isn't a good idea to fail math."

"I wouldn't think so," I laughed.

It didn't take long to reach the park, and we went to the swings. Thankfully, they weren't the baby seats. I swung gently, kicking my feet.

Percy and I sat and talked, then he grinned. "Race to see who can get the highest."

"You're on," I accepted, and we both swung with all our might.

Percy won, he was heavier and went faster. "Haha! Champion!"

"Whatever," I scoffed. "I still kicked your ass at basketball."

Percy pouted. "You did not."

"Is that a challenge, Seaweed Brain?" I raised an eyebrow, teasing.

Percy face screwed up in a cute way. "You're not still calling me that, are you, Wise Girl?"

"Again Percy, that's not an insult."

In a way that reminded me of his little brother, he stuck his tongue out at me, continuing to swing so high he was almost about to loop over the bar.

Some little child was walking by, and his jaw dropped when he saw how high Percy was going. "Woah..."

Lessening his swing, Percy jumped, landing away from the swing set and letting the little kid have a turn. Grinning, I copied his actions, flying further than he had. "Ha, I win."

Percy elbowed me lightly. "You're so competitive, Wise Girl."

"Whatever, you love it." I shoved him back.

We started walking again, going past the playground, which we hadn't done with the kids.

Admittedly, it was nice to just hang out with him. Usually, we were with the rest of our friends or his brother and sister, and I liked that it was just the two of us. Looking up at Percy, I felt this weird twinge in the pit of my stomach.

His hair was ruffled slightly by the gentle breeze, leaving his beautiful eyes in full view. I'd always known that Percy was attractive, but... I hadn't realized exactly how good-looking he really was.

Quickly looking away so he wouldn't notice me staring, I put my hands in my pockets.

"Hey, lets go up here," Percy said suddenly, starting up a hill.

On top, there was a big tree with drooping branches, perfect for climbing on.

"I used to play on this all the time when I was little," He continued, grabbing one of the branches above his head and pulling himself up.

I quickly followed his lead, though I couldn't reach the branch he'd used so it took my a bit longer. When we neared the top, the spot Percy was nestled in was too high for me, and he reached down and I grabbed his hand so he could pull me up.

We could see the path from where we sat, but were still shielded from the sight of any rangers than might walk past.

"Nice spot," I said, looking at the golden sunlight streaming in through the green branches. Now that winter was over, and spring was here, the tree was almost in full bloom.

Percy grinned. "Yeah, I remember when Nico fell out of this tree."

"What?" I choked back a laugh at the thought.

"Yeah, Jason and I were laughing for ages, though his mom wasn't very impressed. But that was ages ago, he would've only been Tyler's age."

He smiled that gorgeous lop-sided smile, and I felt my cheeks grow hot.

_Dammit, _I thought. Was I falling for Percy?

I was unaware that I was staring at him again until his green eyes flicked upwards to meet with mine. His sparkled, darker than the colour of the leaves around us. His lips turned up slightly, and I grinned back.

I realized how close we were, only inches apart on the branch, his bigger hand resting next to mine.

Staring into his eyes, I found myself leaning in as he did the same, and then our foreheads were practically touching.

"Percy..." I whispered, not even sure if he had heard me, but his gaze never left mine as he finally closed the distance.

His lips pressed lightly against mine, sending a shiver down my spine. The kiss was short, but still left me feeling like I was floating.

Percy's forehead rested against mine, and I closed my eyes for a moment, savoring the feeling of his lips. He had tasted like the sea. Opening my eyes again, I glanced through his hair, and saw he was smiling like a madman.

"You have no idea I've wanted to do that..." He trailed off, unsure of how to continue but his expression didn't fade.

I swallowed. "You have no idea I've wanted you to." I replied, sitting forward to kiss him again.

* * *

When I finally went home it was nine in the evening, and though Mom and Dad were waiting for me, Mom didn't give me as much of a whooping as I thought she would.

Though, to be honest, even her scolding couldn't have dampened my mood.

Thankfully, she also didn't notice my new Green Day shirt I was holding.

I bounded up the stairs to my bedroom, and then grabbed my phone and dialed Piper's number.

She would be ecstatic.

"Piper!" I exclaimed, trying to stop from squealing. "You wouldn't believe what happened!"

I heard her gasp in excitement on the other end of the line. "What?!"

"Percy kissed me!"

Piper and I gushed together, and suddenly I couldn't contain my happiness.

"Oh my gosh Annabeth!" Piper said. "Congratulations! I totally knew you guys would be a cute couple!"

"It was amazing! We were at the park and he took me to this place he used to play as a kid and then we climbed a tree and he kissed me, and he's just...perfect." I realized how much I sounded like Piper had when she told me about Jason asked her out.

"So, are you guys going out or what?"

I blushed. "Not yet."

"Oh Annabeth, that's so sweet! I'm so sorry, but Mom needs my help with this new design she's doing. I'll talk to tomorrow."

"Bye Pipes."

When she ended the call, I lay on my bed, putting Percy's shirt on. Somehow, his scent seemed to be woven into the fabric.

Letting out a sigh that was definitely girlish in a way that I never was, I closed my eyes and thought about Percy.

I'd been kissed before, but never had it left me feeling like that.

I couldn't wait until the next time Sally asked me to babysit.

* * *

**Percabeth kiss!**

**FANGIRLING SO HARD! **

**Please R&amp;R xD**


	15. Chapter 15

**Hey guys!**

**Glad you guys liked the last chapter, I promise there is more Percabeth to come!**

**Hope you enjoy :D**

* * *

Piper's POV

I was so excited when Annabeth called me to say that she and Percy had finally kissed.

I always knew that they would be the perfect couple, and now that they had recognized it to, I had to do something to get them together.

Mom needing my help had been a completely lie, and it wasn't that I didn't want to discuss every single detail of the kiss with Annabeth, but I had a plan and I needed an accomplice.

I dialed Jason's number and waited for him to answer.

"Yea Pipes?" His voice said in my ear.

"Jason, Percy and Annabeth kissed and I need your help."

He was silent for a moment, I assumed he was processing the information. "With what?"

"Ok, we need to make sure they get together. You are going to invite Percy to see a movie with you, I'll to the same with Annabeth. It's the perfect way to get them on a double date without them realising it."

"And when we get to the movies, we stick together and let them do their own thing, kinda..." Jason continued, starting to catch on.

I nodded, without realizing that he couldn't see me. "Exactly."

I could almost hear his smile when he replied. "You know Pipes, you're kinda a genius."

* * *

Percy's POV

After our kiss, I didn't see Annabeth until the next weekend.

Words couldn't even describe how elated I was to know that all this time, Annabeth had felt the same way about me. After denying it to all our friends hundreds of times, it turned out they were right all along.

Mom had been absolutely ecstatic when she heard, pulling me into a hug and kissing me on the cheek.

The Saturday after, Jason had invited me to come to the movies to see Insurgent. It wasn't the type of movie Jason would normally want to go watch, and it wasn't until we were walking through the mall and I saw Piper and Annabeth walking to the cinema that it made sense.

"Hey Jason," Piper smiled as she saw us walking their way. "Fancy seeing you two here."

"Yeah, what a coincidence." I agreed sarcastically, shooting Jason a look.

Annabeth met my eyes, and I knew that she'd come to the same conclusion. "What are you seeing?"

"Insurgent," Jason replied.

Annabeth nodded. "Us too."

"No way, we should watch it together."

_You mean, you and Piper will sit together, _I thought. And then that would leave me and Annabeth.

The four of us went into the cinema and bought our tickets and popcorn. We sat up the back, and Piper took my seat next to Jason, leaving me a seat in-between her and Annabeth.

"They totally didn't do this on purpose." Annabeth whispered to me, and I stifled a laugh.

"This isn't a double date or anything."

She snickered, reaching over and stealing some of my popcorn.

We pretty much ignored Piper and Jason, talking through most of the movie. About half way through, someone flicked me on the back of the head.

I turned around, and saw that Jason had done it as he put his arm around Piper's shoulders. He gestured knowingly for me to do the same. I shook my head, mouthing that he was an idiot, and he flicked me again.

When I turned back around I saw Annabeth smirking at me. She obviously wasn't completely oblivious to what Jason was telling me to do.

Rolling my eyes, I looked back to the movie screen.

TIME LAPSE

Outside the movie theater, Piper decided that it would be fun to hang around the mall for a while, and Annabeth agreed.

We walked around, Jason and I being practically dragged into the stores. Finally, we came to the new game room they'd opened. The arcade was huge.

The four of us bought tickets to as many games as we could. At the back of the arcade, they had a lazer-tag room. **A/N:I'm imagining something like Time-Zone, if you guys know what that is :)**

It was everyone for themselves, but Annabeth and I agreed that we were going to gang up on them for tricking us. Not that I was upset about going on a 'date' with Annabeth, just that if that she did go out with me, I wanted it to be because I'd asked her and she'd said yes.

We entered the maze-like arena where the game was played, and the lights went out, leaving us in darkness except for the light from our head-sets.

"This is gonna be fun," I smirked, and Annabeth grinned back at me.

We split-up, running off into the dark. I tried not to go too fast, peaking around corners to make sure Jason wasn't waiting for me.

You had to be shot five times in a special spot to go out, and you re-spawned as soon as you made it a safety light without being shot again, and the game just kept going till time ran out. The person with the most kills at the end wins.

Holding my guns at the ready, I crept around the course. I almost shot Annabeth twice, and then she decided that it would be better if we stuck together.

We walked back to back, and when we finally found Jason, we shot at him relentlessly.

"I feel so betrayed." Jason pouted as he started walking towards the safety light.

Annabeth and I high-fived and continued to move through the maze.

We played the game for an hour before time ran out, and we didn't run into Piper once. Other than that, Annabeth was only one who didn't have to go to the safety light, and she won overall.

"Where the hell were you?" Jason asked Piper when we met outside the lazer-tag zone.

Piper grinned. "Oh, I was just sitting my the entrance the whole time, you guys didn't even come past me."

Jason shook his head and grabbed her hand. The four of us went back out to the food court, unsure of what to do next.

"Alright, I'm starving," I said.

"Aren't you always?" Annabeth remarked.

* * *

Two weeks after our 'double date' Annabeth came over to my place again, only today she wasn't babysitting.

"Hey Seaweed Brain." She smiled at me when I opened the door to let her inside.

"Hey Wise Girl."

She walked past me as I closed the door, and walked down the hall to my room. "Uh sorry, it's a mess."

Even more than usual.

I had music sheets thrown all over the place, some of it was stuff I'd written myself, others we'd done as a band. My guitar was still plugged into the amp, which wasn't exactly safe, and there were clothes everywhere. I was pretty some of of the shirts weren't even mine.

"What's this?" Annabeth asked. She bent over to pick up one of the music sheets. "Stay with me?"

"Oh, that's just a song I wrote."

"You wrote this? She read the lyrics. "Can I hear it?"

I blushed scarlet. I hadn't really shown anyone the songs I wrote on my own. "Uh, sure."

I picked up my acoustic guitar and sat down on my bed besides Annabeth.

I started strumming the chorus, then starting finger-picking for the verse.

_You've got a lot to say for the one that walked away_  
_I give, you take_  
_It's the way it's always been_  
_Oh, how do I know if I should stay or just go?_  
_The bottom line is this way that I'll never know_

_Stay with me (stay with me, stay with me)_  
_Stay with me, oh (a-whoa, a-whoa, a-whoa...)_

_You've got a lot to say for the one that pushed me away_  
_I give, you take_  
_Some things—they never change_  
_Just change_

_Stay with me (stay with me, stay with me)_  
_Stay with me_

_I never knew that I could be this way  
__I never knew that I could walk away_

_These things take time to grow_  
_It's been said that time heals wounds_  
_But no, I won't be controlled_  
_And so the story goes_

_Stay with me (stay with me, stay with me)_  
_Stay with me_

_I never knew that I could be this way_  
_I never knew that I could walk away_

As the song finished, I looked over at Annabeth and saw that she was beaming.

"Percy, that was beautiful."

I grinned. "Thanks."

"What's it about?

"I don't know," I shrugged. "Nothing really."

We were both silent for a moment, so I put my guitar down and lay back.

Annabeth mirrored me, and after a while she finally spoke. "Do you think you'll ever write a song about me?"

I felt the corners of my mouth pull up and turned to look at her. Hey grey eyes were shining.

"Hopefully it'll never be a break-up song."

"Does that mean we're dating."

I blushed again, but I wasn't embarrassed when I saw that she was flushed too.

"Do you want it to mean that we're dating?"

Annabeth rolled her eyes and punched me lightly. "Seaweed Brain," She insisted, sitting up.

"Fine."

I sat up to looked into her face. Without hesitating, I leaned forward and pressed my lips to hers.

She responded immediately, wrapping her hands behind my neck and twisting her fingers into my hair.

I could swear that she made a sound of protest when I pulled away.

"Will you go out with me?"

Annabeth gave a kiss in response, whispering a 'yes' against my mouth.

Dissolving into the kiss, I grabbed Annabeth's waist and pulled her into my lap. She tilted her head down to kiss me...

...and then someone knocked on the door.

We pulled apart, looking into each other's eyes in disappointment.

"Perce?" I heard Mom's voice.

I let out a groan. I loved Mom, but she had the worst timing.

"Yea Mom?"

"I made some cookies if you two want some."

And suddenly everything was right with the world. Annabeth saw my excited expression, and we walked into the kitchen.

Eating Mom's amazing cookies with my beautiful new girlfriend, I couldn't have been happier.

* * *

**Eh, sorry for the super-duper long wait guys, and the shitty ending. And how short this chapter is :/**

**But PERCABETH! Omigosh! Guys, they're are finally a couple!**

**Please R&amp;R! xD**


	16. Chapter 16

**Hey guys! **

**I forgot to mention this last chapter, but that song was Stay With Me by You Me At Six, if you want to know what it would sound like with just Percy listen to the acoustic version ;P**

* * *

For the first time that I could remember, I actually _dreaded _going to school on Monday.

It meant that I wouldn't get to see Percy till Thursday. It was strange to think that a guy as attractive as him was now my boyfriend, that a guy like him would even look twice at me was weird.

Of course, I hadn't said a word of what was going on between us to my mother, telling her about our kiss would basically just confirm all her worries from before. And then she'd just completely despise Percy.

At school, I was walking to my locker with Piper and Thalia.

"So, you're dating my brother," Thalia pointed at Piper, than at me. "And you're dating my cousin?"

I'd just told them that Percy and I were now officially dating.

"Yeah, I never really thought of it like that." Piper responded.

I laughed, I hadn't thought of that either.

By Wednesday, I couldn't stand waiting to see Percy any longer. He'd called me Tuesday night, and we'd discussed what we were going to tell my parents about Thursday, since I wasn't going there to babysit, but I still missed his eyes.

It was strange how quickly I found myself completely infatuated with him now that I'd admitted my feelings towards him.

We were sitting around our usual table in the cafeteria, and Jason and Leo came over chatting worriedly.

"What are we going to do, Leo? The gig is this weekend!" Jason exclaimed as he sat down next to Piper.

His girlfriend frowned. "What happened?"

"Percy went and lost his voice," Leo rolled his eyes. "He can't sing for a few weeks and we have a gig Saturday night."

Jason ran his hand through his hair. "And that gives us two days to find a replacement and practice new songs. Luke said we'll probably have to cancel."

"Wait," Calypso suddenly said, uncertainty in her voice. "Um...I can sing."

"You can!" Leo beamed. "And just when I thought you couldn't get any more perfect."

I elbowed him hard, but Calypso ignored him. "If you guys need me to, I could sing."

Jason had a small, relieved smile on his face. "Cal, I can't even tell you how grateful we'd be if you could. Of course, you'd have to come over and practice with us so we can see what the others think of your voice."

Calypso smiled at him, eyes shining.

I frowned slightly. Percy had sounded normal enough on the phone, how had he lost his voice so completely over night?

"We'll have to go to your house tonight and find some new songs," Leo said to Jason.

Jason nodded in agreement.

"I can give you a lift if you need, Cal." I said, hoping to the gods that she'd say yes.

"That's ok-"

"Really, its fine."

Thalia cooed mockingly. "Annabeth just wants to go see Percy!"

I blushed scarlet, mostly because it was true. "Aren't I allowed to want to see my boyfriend?"

Calypso smiled. "If it's not too much trouble, Annabeth."

I grinned. "Not at all."

* * *

After school, I texted Dad and drove with Calypso to Jason's place.

Jason and Leo left before us, and Luke had to pick up Percy and Nico on his way over.

"So, are they good?" Calypso asked me as I pulled out of the school car-park.

I smirked. "Yeah, very good. It's a shame you won't get to hear Perce sing."

"You really like him," She replied with a small smile, and I blushed.

"I didn't think so." I said honestly. It amazed me how I had known him for a year and hadn't realized till now.

By now, the school year was almost over. All of our finals were coming up, and then Percy, Thalia, Reyna and Nico would be finished with their senior year.

"I think I know the feeling." Calypso said quietly, probably hoping that I wouldn't hear her. "So, are you ready for exams?"

Noticing her quick change of topic, I replied, "Yeah, hopefully if I pass with a good mark, Mom will get off my case."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, she doesn't really like Percy. When she found out I was 'babysitting' an eighteen year old boy, she thought...you can probably guess what she thought." I said awkwardly.

Calypso nodded, and thankfully we arrived at Jason's place before I had to elaborate.

We got of the car and went straight to the garage, where Nico opened the door to let us in.

The garage was arranged in the usual set up, drum kit at the back, mics in front of it in the shape of a semicircle, but there was one extra today, and Percy's was set off to the side next to Luke's.

Jason was already practicing, playing the beat to some songs I hadn't heard them play before, probably the ones they wanted Calypso to try.

"Hey!" Leo greeted from his spot on the floor were he was setting up the amps and the distortion pedals. "Luke, Percy, Nico; this is Calypso."

The three boys waved to her, and she returned the gesture kinda awkwardly.

I saw Percy coming towards me and wrapped my arms around him in a hug.

"Hey," He said, his voice dry and hoarse.

"Seaweed Brain, what happened?"

He rubbed the back of his neck. "Nothing, my vocal chords are just a bit over-worked. I'll be fine in a few weeks."

"Shall we get to work?" Jason said from his seat, and his band-mates nodded.

I sat on the side, watching as Luke handed Callie a few sheets and asked if she knew any of the songs. She nodded, and stood at the mic.

She looked a bit nervous, but I gave her an encouraging smile and a thumbs-up.

Callie held the music sheet in front of her, and waited for the lyrics to come in.

Percy and Luke played the starting riffs, before Jason and Nico started with the beat and Calypso began to sing.

_You were my conscience_  
_So solid, now you're like water_  
_And we started drowning_  
_Not like we'd sink any farther_  
_But I let my heart go_  
_It's somewhere down at the bottom_  
_But I'll get a new one_  
_And come back for the hope that you've stolen_

_I'll stop the whole world_  
_I'll stop the whole world... from turning into a monster_  
_Eating us alive_  
_Don't you ever wonder how we survived_  
_Now that you're gone_  
_The world is ours_

_I'm only human_  
_I've got a skeleton in me_  
_But I'm not the villain_  
_Despite what you're always preaching_  
_Call me a traitor_  
_I'm just collecting your victims_  
_And they're getting stronger_  
_I hear them calling_  
_(They're calling)_

_I'll stop the whole world_  
_I'll stop the whole world... from turning into a monster_  
_Eating us alive_  
_Don't you ever wonder how we survived_  
_But now that you're gone_  
_The world is ours_

Percy played the small solo, and then Callie continued to sing.

_When you find a strength and solutions_  
_But I like the tension_  
_And not always knowing the answers_  
_Well you're gonna lose it... You're gonna lose it_

_I'll stop the whole world_  
_I'll stop the whole world... from turning into a monster_  
_Eating us alive_  
_Don't you ever wonder how we survived_  
_Now that you're gone_  
_The world_

_I'll stop the whole world_  
_I'll stop the whole world... from turning into a monster_  
_Eating us alive_  
_Don't you ever wonder how we survived_  
_Now that you're gone_  
_The world is ours_

Calypso beamed at the guys when the song finished, and Luke nodded with approval.

"You have a great voice," He said, and she blushed lightly.

I stood up and stood next to them. "Guys, that was great."

"So," Calypso bit her lip. "Does that mean I'm singing at your gig?"

"We'd love you to!" Percy replied with as much excitement as he could with his his sore throat.

* * *

That night, Percy and I decided that we should tell Mom and Dad.

Since he had caught a ride to Jason's with Nico, he needed to be driven home anyway. I could tell he was nervous about meeting my mom again, but he had agreed that he didn't want to keep it a secret, as Athena would find out eventually.

"She won't kill me, right?" He asked as I stopped at a red light.

"Of course not," I said. _Hopefully. _

"You know, I always thought you were supposed to worry about your girlfriend's dad, not her mom." Percy said thoughtfully, flicking through the radio stations.

I snickered, rolling my eyes at him. "I'd be more worried about Reyna's future boyfriend; Bellona makes my mom seem sweet."

"We need to get off the topic of scary mothers, before I throw up from anxiety."

I laughed, reaching over to take his hand. He intertwined his fingers with mine and flashed a small smile.

Surely something that felt this good couldn't be wrong, whether your mother agreed or not.

I pulled up in the driveway and killed the engine. Taking a deep breath, I turned to Percy.

"You ready?" I asked.

Percy shook his head. "Do you reckon someone'll notice if I just jump the fence and run?"

We got out of the car together, walking under the porch to the front door.

"Mom, Dad, I brought a visitor!" I called into the house.

Dad's voice answered from his study next to the living room. "Hey Tha-oh." He stopped short in the doorway. "Percy, what a surprise."

Percy forced a smile. "Hi, Mr Chase. How are you?"

"I'm good Percy, thank you."

Thankfully, Dad didn't seem unhappy about Percy being at our house.

"Uh Dad, I have something to tell you," I took Percy's hand again. "We're dating."

"Yeah, I figured." He smiled. "I'm happy for you two."

Percy and I exchanged a glance. "You are?"

"Sure, I saw it coming." Dad smiled, and I heard Percy let out a quiet sigh of relief. "You staying for dinner, Percy?"

"Ah no," Percy said, with a convincing devastated tone. "I have to get back home to help Mom."

"He's lost his voice anyway, not really up to talking much." I added, hoping Dad would get the hint.

I knew Percy wanted to get out of here before he had to confront Mom. Dad's smile broadened.

"Oh yes, of course."

He bid goodbye to Percy and went back into his study, leaving my and Percy in the hallway. We got back in my car so I could take him home, and I told him that Dad and I could tell Mom when she got home.

When Percy was sure that we were alone in the carpark of his apartment building, he stooped down and kissed me. I leaned up to kiss him back before pulling away.

"I'll see you tomorrow?" I asked hopefully.

A lop-sided grin formed on Percy's face. "Yeah," He gave me one last peck, before he retreated to the door with a small wave.

With a contented sigh, I pulled back into the traffic. Mom was going to flip when she heard that we were dating, but at least Dad approved.

* * *

**Um...sorry :( **

**I honestly don't even know what happened with this chapter, it was crap, I just couldn't think of what to write. I promise I'll make it up to you guys next chapter :) **

**Please R&amp;R, even though this was horrible **


	17. Chapter 17

**Hey guys,**

**Sorry for another long wait, I've been preoccupied.**

**About last chapter, I would've liked to write about Annabeth and Percy telling Athena as well, but I didn't know how I was going to write it without it being super cheesy, and you guys already know that I had a bad block, but hopefully this chapter will be better!**

**Lots of you have said that you don't like when I have more lyrics than actually dialogue and stuff, and I understand that but the plot line of this story does sorta center around Percy's music, so when they have gigs its going to happen a bit, sorry, I will make chapters like that longer ;P**

* * *

Percy's POV

We practised after school everyday until the gig, making sure that we were in perfect sync and that we were in tune with Calypso's voice.

She did a good job of singing the kind of songs we played; her voice wasn't suited for bands like Halestorm, but she had a huge range and could hit all of the notes perfectly.

Final Evolution was optimistic that the gig would turn out well.

The only thing that hadn't really been pleasant was telling Athena about my relationship with her daughter. I wasn't there when Annabeth told her (thank the gods that I'd managed to dodge _that _bullet) but we had received a phone call at eight o'clock, and judging by Mom's constant mutterings of 'Percy is a very kind and respectful boy', and 'they only had their first kiss and couple days ago, I promise they weren't doing anything', it was pretty obvious that Athena had called.

I was just glad that Mom had beaten me to the phone, I'd gotten up to go answer it as well.

I was walking down the stairs of the apartment, my ESP case in hand, towards the street were Luke was picking me up with the rest of the boys.

It was hard to find space with all the instruments and band members, but Luke refused to get a bigger van for our stuff.

"Hey Perce, ready?" Nico asked as I slide in next to him.

"Oh, definitely." I said hoarsely. My voice had gotten worse rather than better over the week, and now it was practically gone completely, which is probably why the guys kept asking me questions.

You know, to make fun of me.

Jason had said over and over how lucky we were that Calypso could sing, and at first I was the tiniest little bit miffed that he and Leo had found a replacement without even asking me, but we were really lucky. I had hoped I'd be well enough to sing by now (even if the doctor said I wasn't supposed to), so thank god they'd invited Callie over that day.

We met the girls, and Frank, in the carpark of the building where we were playing. All of them, except for Calypso, were wearing the Final Evolution shirts that Piper had designed and had her mom manufacture so she could sell them during the gig. They were pretty awesome shirts, I had to admit.

"Nervous?" Luke asked Calypso with a small sympathetic smile when he saw her wringing her hands.

She shrugged. "A little bit."

"I'm sure you'll do great," Leo added, surprisingly in an un-flirting way. "We should go set up."

Calypso gave a small smile to the girls and then followed us to the back, helping to carry some of our equipment like the music stands and some of Jason's drums.

The stage was set up in no time, and Leo was setting up all the amps and his console that he uses to distort the guitars and the microphone. Tuning my ESP, I spotted Annabeth coming over to me from where I was beside the stage.

Setting my guitar to the side, I met her halfway with a smile on my face. "We got Athena's call."

Annabeth grinned sheepishly. "Yeah, she took it better than I expected."

"I could tell," I replied sarcastically, trying to let out a laugh and failing miserably because of my throat.

"Seaweed Brain," Annabeth scolded. "Stop straining yourself."

"Sorry."

She rolled her eyes and rose on her tiptoes to give me a quick kiss. "Good luck."

"Thanks," I said, kissing her again before she headed back to the table that Frank and the girls had reserved. Gods, I felt so bad for Frank, sitting there all alone with girls he really didn't know except for his girlfriend.

People were starting to come in now, I guessed most of them were already fans as they were wearing Piper's shirt (Luke must have advertised them on our Facebook page).

"Alrights guys, let's go," Luke said, strapping his guitar over his shoulder.

Nico and I followed suit and Jason grabbed his drum sticks.

"Hey guys!" Jason said into his mic as he sat down at his kit. "How are all doing?"

The people in the room cheered in response, and I couldn't believe how lucky we were to have an actual fan base. A lot of bands that performed like we did just showed up for their gigs and played, they didn't have people who came to see them almost every time.

Nico, Luke and I took our places to the side of the main mic, and I was sure a lot of the fans were confused about the extra stand.

"We have a bit of a surprise for you guys," Nico started to explain. "Percy went and decided to lose his voice."

"I didn't decide, Nico," I argued hoarsely, for the sake of showmen-ship.

Pretending to ignore me, he continued. "So, we found a new singer for you! Everybody give it up for Calypso!"

The crowd clapped and cheered as Calypso came onto the stage with a shy smile. She stood at the microphone and glanced back at us nervously before she turned back to the crowd.

"Hey guys, this song is called Familiar Taste of Poison by Halestorm." **A/N: I know I said the Calypso's voice wasn't like Lzzy Hale's but this is a lot softer than a lot of her others and I really love it, so meh**

Giving her a smile, I started to play the main guitar part of the song. After I played the riff a few times, Luke started playing the quiet melody and Calypso began to sing.

_Drink the wine, my darling, you said_  
_Take your time, consume all of it_  
_But the roses were only to drain my inspiration_  
_The promises were spoiled before they left your lips and..._

_I breathe you in again just to feel you_  
_Underneath my_ skin,_ holding on to_  
_The sweet escape is always laced with a familiar taste of poison_

Jason started tapped the cymbals and Nico came in with the bass line.

_I tell myself that you're no good for me_

_I wish you well, but desire never leaves_  
_I could fight this til the end_  
_But maybe I don't want to win_

_I breathe you in again just to feel you_  
_Underneath my skin, holding on to_  
_The sweet escape is always laced with a familiar taste of poison_

Luke and I started to play the chords, and Calypso sang louder to match us, her voice soaring over the notes.

_I don't wanna be saved, I don't wanna be sober_  
_I want you on my mind, in my dreams behind these eyes_  
_And I won't wake up, no not this time._

_I breathe you in again just to feel you_  
_Underneath my skin, holding on to_  
_The sweet escape is always laced with a familiar taste of poison_

_A familiar taste of poison_

I played the riff once more before the song came to a close, and the crowd yelled and clapped. I shot Calypso a big smile; first gigs were hard, she had done great.

"This next song is called The Change by Evanescence!"

Jason came in with the beat as I played the muted chords, and Nico joined in with the bass line as Callie started to sing again.

_Thought that I was strong_  
_I know the words I need to say_  
_Frozen in my place_  
_I let the moment slip away_

_I've been screaming on the inside_  
_And I know you feel the pain_  
_Can you hear me?_  
_Can you hear me?_

We gradually started to play louder and Luke joined in.

_Aaa aaa aaa  
Aaa aaa aaa_

_Say it's over_  
_Yes it's over_  
_But I need you anyway_  
_Say you love me but it's not enough_

_Never meant to lie_  
_But I'm not the girl you think you know_  
_The more that I am with you_  
_The more that I am all alone_

_I've been screaming on the inside_  
_And I know you feel the pain_  
_Can you hear me?_  
_Can you hear me?_

_Aaa aaa aaa  
Aaa aaa aaa_

_Say it's over_  
_Yes it's over_  
_But I need you anyway_  
_Say you love me but it's not enough_

_Not that I'm so different_  
_Not that I don't see_  
_The dying light of what we used to be_  
_But how could I forgive you?_  
_You changed_  
_And I'm a liar by your side_  
_I'm about to lose my mind_

_'Cause I've been screaming on the inside_  
_And I know you feel the pain_  
_Can you hear me?_  
_Can you hear me?_  
_Aaa_

_You've been dreaming_  
_If you're thinking_  
_That I still belong to you_  
_And I've been dying_  
_'Cause I'm lying to myself!_

_Aaa aaa aaa  
Aaa aaa aaa _

_Say it's over_  
_Yes it's over_  
_But I need you anyway_  
_Say you love me but it's not enough_

The crowd cheered, and I heard the girls yelling much louder than everyone else.

After that, we played five more songs. We were coming off the stage when we saw a tall, blonde man heading our way.

He flashed us a blinding smile, and reached out to shake our hands. "Hey guys, I'm Apollo Solace, I work for Olympic Records."

I felt my jaw drop to the floor. Olympic Records? No way!

"I know that this isn't the best time, with your lead singer being sick, but you guys can really play. And being able to work that well with a replacement, well, I'm kicking myself for not coming to watch sooner."

Luke managed to shake off some of his shock. "Uh, thank you sir."

Apollo smiled wider. "It's the truth, which is why I'd like to make you guys an offer."

Jason and Nico looked over at me, equally awestruck looks on their faces. Calypso was wide-eyed and Leo was beaming.

"And what's that?" Luke asked, licking his lips.

"When you get better," Apollo directed at me. "Give me a call and come down to the studio. If you guys don't already have an agent or a manager, I'd love to help you out, you guys deserve a record deal." He handed Luke a card. "Nice to meet you Percy, I've heard a lot about you."

Wait...what? I gaped, my jaw dropping even lower. He'd heard a lot about me? But...what? The only person I knew who worked at Olym-

Oh.

Dad? He didn't even know me, he'd left before I was born. I had no memories of him, how could he possibly be telling people about me? Like, _Oh yeah, my son's great, I've never actually met him, but I'm sure he's great! _

"Excuse me?" I croaked out.

Apollo clapped my shoulder, but he didn't answer. "Call me when you're voice comes back."

With that, he shook our hands again and walked out of the venue.

* * *

**I know this is still short, sorry :/ **

**Oooohh, Final Evolution might get a record deal, and Percy might finally meet his dad!**

**Please R&amp;R, I _promise _it'll be a longer chapter next time! ;D**


	18. Author's note

**Hey guys **

**I'm really sorry but I think I might have to put this sorry on hiatus. I don't know how long it will be, but I have a lot to work on and I've hit a serious slump of ideas for this story. I know exactly where I want it to go, but I have no idea how to get it there. **

**My writing in this story has just steadily gotten worse, and I'm taking ages to update. I promise that I have been working on the next chapter, but it just isn't really flowing like it should be. **

**I'm soooooo sorry for doing this to you guys, but I just need a while to get this story back on track :)**


	19. Chapter 19

**Hey guys!**

**I'm not dead! Crickey, it's been a bloody long time hasn't it? I'm so sorry! I swear I didn't mean for this hiatus to last so long, but I'm back with something resembling inspiration, so we're back! Maybe. **

**I hope you all enjoy :D**

* * *

I took a deep breath as I stared up at the building in front of me.

Annabeth was standing beside me, holding my hand encouragingly, and the rest of the band (including Calypso) was on my other side. Somewhere in that building, my dad was waiting.

"I can't believe this is happening." Leo muttered, a grin spreading out on his face. If all went well today, we could finally get a record deal.

"Let's go," Luke said, walking forward and holding open the door. Making our way through into the lobby, I searched around the large reception area.

There was a sort of hall-of-fame on the walls, most of the space taken up by photos of singers and bands and large platinum albums. I recognized most of the artists, but there were quite a few that I'd never even heard of.

"Can I help you?" One of the receptionist asked when she saw us simply standing there.

"Uh, we're here for Apollo Solace." Luke said, presenting the card the man had given us at the gig.

The receptionist nodded, and turned to say something into the phone by her side. She gave us a smile. "Mr Solace will see you on the fifth floor."

The seven of us all crowded into the elevator, Nico pressed the button for the fifth floor. Unsurprisingly, the music they played in the elevator was pretty bad, but I kinda expected more from a music producer.

Walking into the hallway, doors stretched out before us. One door was wide open, so I assumed that it must be Mr Solace's office. Inside was a desk and numerous chairs, with a large window on the far side of the room showing the bustling city below. More platinum albums and photos of bands decorated the walls, and there were some seriously sweet acoustic guitars on a rack.

Apollo Solace sat behind the desk, looking up and smiling when he saw us enter the room. "Ah, so happy you could make it! Feeling better, Percy?" He asked, his teeth blindingly white.

"Yeah, thanks." I responded politely.

"The producers I want you to meet are busy at the moment, but we should be able to go see them any minute now."

Annabeth slipped her hand into mine, giving it an encouraging squeeze. I wasn't entirely sure whether I wanted my dad to be our producer or not.

My stomach felt like it wanted to jump out at the thought of meeting my father, after eighteen years of never even seeing a photo. Would I be able to tell who he was? Would he recognize _me_?

After an agonizing wait, we were called into a larger room with nohing but a long glass table and chairs. Four seats were already taken, leaving enough chairs to accommodate for Apollo and our band.

Apollo ushered us into the room, taking a seat next to one of the men already sitting, gesturing for is to follow suit. "Gentlemen, these are the members of Final Evolution; Nico, Luke, Jason, Percy and Leo, and these lovely girls are Annabeth and Calypso."

Moving forward to sit down, I did a double-take and froze on the spot as I saw him.

The man looked just like me, or what I would look like in thirty years. His hair was black, with a few greys at the temples, and his skin was sun-kissed with smile-lines around his eyes, which were the exact same colour as mine.

He must've sensed me staring, and his jaw dropped when he saw me. "Oh gods..." The man stood up and walked over, standing a bit shorter than me. "Percy?"

I gulped and nodded.

My father's face lit up, his green eyes growing slightly watery. He put his hands on my shoulders before pulling me down into an embrace. I stiffened, not entirely sure how to react.

I awkwardly hugged him back, before tightening my embrace. This was my dad. Finally, he was here. I felt his hand running through my hair, his chin resting on my shoulder.

As he pulled back, I returned the smile he gave me, though I still felt kinda conflicted.

Looking around the room, I saw that most of the guys were staring in shock. After Thalia had been reunited with her mother, and now me finding my dad, Jason looked a bit overwhelmed.

Apollo cleared his throat. "Um, Poseidon, Percy and his band are here to play some songs for you."

Poseidon smiled at me again, clapping me on the shoulder. "My son, we should talk later, we have a lot to catch up on."

I nodded dumbly, and my dad went back to his seat. Sitting down, I looked at Annabeth for reassurance, and she grinned and held onto my hand again. That had really just happened?

Acting as though nothing had occurred, the other men in the room began to ask us questions about our band and the music we played. What kind of bands influence us, did we cover or write our own songs, how many original songs did we have?

I hadn't been positively nervous until I learnt that my long-lost father would be one of the people who would decide whether my ultimate dream would come true or not. The hand that wasn't wrapped in Annabeth's steadying grip was shaking underneath the table where no one could see.

After a twenty minute discussion about Final Evolution, one of the producers asked us if we would play something for them. We were moved into a recording room.

I saw Leo's mouth fall open at the sight of all the equipment, his eyes scanning over the amps and the effects systems. It was beyond anything we could ever have afforded to buy.

"Go ahead," one of the producers said, prompting us to set up.

Taking out our instruments, we plucked in and tuned up, Jason taking a seat at the already assembled drum-kit and testing it out. They had obviously been prepared for us to play, as there were already four mic-stands set up, plus one for Calypso moved off to the side for now. Leo stood behind a control panel, finding his way around the different distortion, loop, delay and various other effects.

Annabeth, Calypso, Apollo, my dad and the other producers were standing behind a glass window in a separate room so they could watch and listen. Apollo stood by a mic that was connected to a PA system in the room we were in so that he could give us instructions.

"Alright boys," He said. "Would you mind playing a couple of your original songs first?"

"Which one first?" Luke said, before he suggested that we play Never Giving Up, and I nodded in agreement, quickly joined by Leo, Nico and Jason.

Announcing our song to spectators, Luke began playing the verse.

_Even though I can see it in your face,_  
_I can't really explain._

Jason came in with steady beat on the snare.

_Just how broken and empty and disgraced_  
_You seem to be._

_You cut me out and dragged me down,_  
_Pulled me all the way to the bottom._  
_I've done for you 'til black and blue,_  
_What no one else would do for the fallen._

For a moment, there was no music except for the bass drum, before Nico and I joined as the chorus began.

_One day when nothing ever feels the same.  
__Just like every other time before.  
__(You hit the wall and lost it all!)  
__And I'll find a way to wake you from this bed you've made,  
__Even though I know you want me to,  
__I'm never giving up on you! (on you, on you)  
__I'm never giving up, never giving up on you! (on you, on you)  
__I'm never giving up, never giving up on you!_

Nico sang back-up with his unique growling vocals, something we didn't do very often.

_You'll never know just how hard it is for me to see you this way._  
_It tears me up and drags me down,_  
_Trying to pull you up from the bottom._  
_I break for you, like I always do,_  
_I'll see you through_  
_When you're on your knees and crawling (crawling!)_

_One day when nothing ever feels the same._  
_Just like every other time before._  
_(You hit the wall and lost it all!)_  
_And I'll find a way to wake you from this bed you've made,_  
_Even though I know you want me to,_  
_I'm never giving up on you! (on you, on you)_  
_I'm never giving up, never giving up on you! (on you, on you)_  
_I'm never giving up, never giving up on you!_

_So don't give up on me!_  
_Yeah! Don't you give up on me! (Give up on me)_  
_Yeah! Don't you give up on me!_  
_Yeah! Don't you give up on me!_

_One day when nothing ever feels the same._  
_Just like every other time before._  
_(You hit the wall and lost it all!)_  
_And I'll find a way to wake you from this bed you've made,_  
_Even though I know you want me to,_  
_I'm never giving up on you! (on you, on you)_  
_Never giving up, never giving up on you! (on you, on you)_  
_Never giving up, never giving up on you!_

_So don't give up on me!_

Annabeth and Calypso clapped behind the screen as the song came to a close, and I saw my dad smiling with a proud look on his face that made me feel warm inside. Ever since I'd started playing with the band, I'd imagined my father giving me that look.

"Boys that was great, have you got another song for us?" Apollo asked again.

Between us, we'd already agreed that we'd be showing Love Me Like You Used To, a song Luke and I had written about his ex-girlfriend.

The song kicked off straight away with loud chords and a heavy beat before the lyrics started.

_And at the start, I was wishing I could be anything you'd want._  
_I've been living with strangers here that haunt my thoughts._  
_Nice guys finish last, I take pride in that._  
_Can't change it now, broke free from my past._  
_We walk the same streets, but have different views._  
_You see change, I see cavalier youth._

_So love me like you used to_  
_When I couldn't lose you_  
_Why is it goodbye?_

_And at the end judges pointed out my flaws,_  
_With so much ease._  
_You have brought up my self-esteem just to suck it out of me._  
_I'm not broken, but I'm close to the edge._  
_Need fewer enemies, then I have friends._  
_I hope that I will see you there._  
_I hope I will see you there._

_So love me like you used to_  
_When I couldn't lose you._  
_Why is it goodbye?_  
_Just love me like you need me,_  
_Oh just can't you need me?_  
_Why, why? _

_Can now the things that matter most,_  
_The things I can't decide, if I want._  
_So this time I will realize,_  
_This time I will sacrifice._  
_Whatever that it takes._  
_Whatever that it takes._

_So love me like you used to_  
_When I couldn't lose you._  
_Why, why?_  
_Just love me._  
_Just love me._  
_Just love me. _

Again, there was applause behind the screen. Annabeth beamed at me, giving me a big thumbs up.

The producers didn't say anything straight away, they were obviously having a discussion with Apollo. One of them approached Calypso, and after a few words, she came in through the door, giving us a smile before she moved another mic stand in beside mine.

Poseidon pressed the PA button, telling us that we did a great job. He said they wanted to see what Calypso added to our band. So we played a few more songs, song of them with our separate vocals, others with both.

I felt like it went really well, hopefully Olympus Records thought so too.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Ooh! What about this!" Sienna exclaimed, bolting away down the aisle of the shopping center.

As Annabeth rushed off after her, Ty and I exchanged an exasperated look. We were shopping for a wedding present for Mom, and Sienna had suggested just about everything, and we had only gone through two shops.

Luckily, Annabeth had a large amount of patience.

It had been a couple days since our...interview, i guess, and we'd yet to here from Olympus. And my dad. I tried not to be disappointed, I'm sure he was a busy guy, working for one of the biggest record producers in the United States, but still, you'd think someone could make a bit of an effort for their long-lost son, their only child.

I'd called Mom and told her the minute we got out of the building, and I wasn't quite sure whether her reaction was happy or not.

"Perce, I actually think she found something." Annabeth called, waving us over. Ty broke into a slow jog, hurrying over to his younger sister, leaving me in the dust.

The three of them were gathered around a shelf of home decor, including little decorative pots, picture frames and that kind of stuff. In her hand, Annabeth held a collection of white frames that were melded together.

"You can put photos of the kids in there, and you and Paul. Everything they love?" She said, passing the frame to me.

It was a simple idea, but a good one, especially since I didn't have a whole lot of money (and I would never make Annabeth pay for it). Mom lived for the simple, heartfelt things in life, this was perfect. A collection of memories of their families. I smiled at Annabeth, giving her a quick kiss when Ty and Sienna weren't looking.

She grinned back, sliding an arm around my torso and leaning into my side in a one-armed hug.

I was so excited for the wedding to take place. There hadn't been a set date yet, but they'd already sorted out who was being invited and a venue, and Mom had some dresses to choose from. She had her rang-bearer and flower-girl (Ty and Sienna, of course), Paul's brother was to be his best man.

It was all coming together, and I couldn't be happier for Mom. She really deserved someone like Paul, after all the shit she'd been through.

"Are we gonna get it Perce?" Sienna bounced on the balls of her feet in excitement.

I nodded with a smile. "Absolutely! C'mon, this calls for ice cream."

My brother and sister let out cheers of joy, and Annabeth gave me an exasperated look. I knew exactly what she was trying to say; _everything calls for ice cream with you._

Regardless, we paid for the frame and went to nearest ice cream shop. Ordering the usual, we sat at one of the tables, Mom's present safely at Sienna's side.

On the walk home, Annabeth and I walked hand-in-hand as Ty and Sienna ran on a bit further ahead.

Annabeth hugged my arm for a second, looking up to give me a bright smile. "Your mom's lucky to have you, you know."

"Oh really?" I replied, fighting to hide my rapidly heating cheeks.

"Definitely. It's very obvious that you care about her."

Now I was really blushing. "Well, it was just the two of us for so long, I mean...of course I care about her, she's my mom."

Annabeth's smile almost wavered for a second, and I knew that she was thinking about her mother.

Their relationship had improved a little bit since Annabeth told Athena about us, so I had suspected that Athena's main problem had been the possibility of Annabeth being dishonest to her.

We continued walking in comfortable silence, following after my siblings. I was sliding the key into the lock of our apartment, holding the door open for Annabeth and kids to go through first, when my phone started ringing in my pocket.

Reaching into my jeans, I pulled out the cell and looked at the screen, taking in the unknown number.

"Hello?"

The voice that came through nearly made me drop the phone. "Percy, hello, we need to talk."

* * *

**Finally! **

**I'm beyond sorry for making you wait so long, and then dumping this on you. My life has been hectic, there's been a lot of change and stress, and I've been suffering with really bad anxiety, and I just needed a bit to find some new inspiration and get back on my feet. **

**Anyways, I hope you like this, and that you will forgive for that horrible hiatus **

**Please R&amp;R ;D**


End file.
